


Stranger than Fiction

by Tempestuous33



Category: Grimm (TV)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canon Rewrite, Canon-Typical Violence, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Female Nick, Gen, Genderswap, I Will Go Down With This Ship, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Multi, Sexy Times, Slow Burn, Smut, Timeline Shenanigans, What Have I Done
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-19
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-02-27 23:55:00
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 18
Words: 70,218
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22804420
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Tempestuous33/pseuds/Tempestuous33
Summary: It's a Grimm!... but not as you know it. Nicki Burkhardt (yes I made Nick a girl) has a complicated life. She's trying to balance life as a Detective and a Grimm, enjoying a new friendship with a clock making Blutbad, while trying not to feel bad about lying to her friends, or let it show that she has the hots for her boss, Captain Sean Renard.All the canon elements are in here, but I may have messed with a few things to fit the gender swap.
Relationships: Nick Burkhardt/Sean Renard
Comments: 32
Kudos: 251





	1. Chapter 1: A Good Day

**Author's Note:**

> Firstly, I do not own Grimm, they are the property of other people. If they did belong to me.....*sigh*. Sadly I only get to play with them. I make no money from the writing of this fanfic.
> 
> Secondly... I blame my friend. She was the one who got me into Grimm, she's the one who has fuelled my obsession with Renard (she gave me a shirtless rage birthday cake for heaven's sake!) and then she double dared me to write this. So I did. What can I say, it seemed like a good idea at the time.

It was late and she was tired, but it had been an exceptionally good day so Nicki Burkhardt didn’t given a Wesen’s right wing nut about either. As a police detective it was inevitable that there would be good days and bad days, so when something good came around she whole heartedly embraced it. Holly Clark had been found. After years of surviving alone in the wilderness, a wild and feral girl the world had either forgotten or thought dead, was in fact alive, and had been returned to her loving mother. People would wonder how it was possible but only a few would ever know the truth. She’d survived because Holly was in fact far more than just a girl, she was more than human. She was Blutbad. She was Wesen. It was a story stranger than fiction, which was why her integration back into ‘normal’ life would be so much harder. That was why Nicki needed to stay awake and focussed for just a little longer. There was still more that she needed to do. If she had been more awake, or less task focussed, Nicki might have noticed that the feverish activity of the day had given way to the almost blissful quiet of the night shift, or that the squad room had emptied out hours ago. She might also have been aware of the scrutiny she was under from the only other person who was still working; the only other person who, unknown to her, grasped the full meaning of the days events.

Captain Sean Renard watched Nicki with the singular focus he was famous for, while mentally plotting the many ways he wanted to maim the reporter that had not taken his polite hints that enough was enough three questions ago. The press conference about Holly had done little to satisfy their curiosity, and given the voracious nature of the press, the Chief of Police had asked him to speak to a number of reporters on a one to one basis. Although asked was probably the wrong word. Ordered was closer to the truth. His superiors were seizing on this as an opportunity to show the department in its best light given that the city of Portland, including its former Chief of Police, had been mired in the muddy waters of scandal and corruption. Thanks to his brother, Sean had barely escaped the situation with his reputation intact, so he gritted his teeth, did as he was asked, and pretended that he enjoyed this part of his job.

With thoughts of his brother came the inevitable scowl that marred his face. Eric, with more than enough help from the family and other allies, had been meddling. They were involving themselves far too deeply in his city, and in his life, for Sean to feel comfortable. Eric had plans, but Sean was going to do everything he could to thwart them. The reason for Eric’s current fit of peak was sitting not far away and was the focus of Sean’s scrutiny. To date Detective Nicki Burkhardt was oblivious to the trouble she’d caused. If she had been anything like her aunt she would have been easy to deal with. Detective Burkhardt would have received an unfortunate and very violent death on the job. She would have been honoured but life would have moved on and, with no family left to mourn her, Nicki Burkhardt would have been forgotten. Instead she’d acted with honesty, integrity and kindness and she had turned the Wesen world on its head, forming alliances that had been dead for centuries. Another fact she seemed oblivious to. Ignorance, it seemed, was occasionally a blessing. Needless to say Eric did not approve of her methods. Or of Seans. However Eric would have to keep his hands off Sean’s detective and Portland’s resident Grimm. If his brother still had a problem understanding there were boundaries, Sean would be more than happy to revise the lesson. Finally, Renard uttered a well rehearsed sound bite down down the phone and then excused himself as his other less than official phone buzzed and vibrated its way on silent across the desk top.

“C’est moi,” Sean said, shifting languages as easily as he shifted personas.

“Good evening your highness,” the disembodied voice was familiar in tone, it’s deep softness rounded out by friendship, and a little irreverence. “You’ve had a good day.”

“It was acceptable,” Sean stated.

“You should feel a great deal more than that. The finding of this young Wesen is only going to help solidify your position in command of your city. A leader who cares for his people no matter how small and insignificant they are can always be embraced.”

“It perhaps helps that most Wesen have no idea who I am. Or what a bastard I can be.”

“They don’t need to know. You have the powerful and terrifying Grimm.”

Sean made a sound that was noncommittal at best. He watched as Nicki, the aforementioned Grimm, took a sip from her mug only to grimace at the taste of cold coffee. As her nose wrinkled in disgust she didn’t look either terrifying or powerful. She looked young. And alone. He watched as she massaged the aching muscles in the back of her neck while never taking her eyes off her computer screen. She scribbled something onto her pad of paper. She didn’t even look at the small Christmas tree that had appeared on her desk sometime during the last twenty four hours.

“They know that you would not allow the Grimm to act, or to even live, if she did not in some way have your approval. Of course it helps that she is unlike any Grimm that they’ve ever heard of. She is no nightmare come to kill them in their sleep.”

The voice sounded as relieved as he was surprised. It was true that Nicki Burkhardt had confounded them all. Except perhaps her Captain.

“And they have very public proof of that now. Was there a reason you called? Not that I don’t enjoy our conversations my friend.”

“This is the reason. To tell you that people are talking. Including your family. They’re not happy my friend. With either of you.”

“When have they ever been happy with me, Sebastien?”

"You are fully aware of what your family demands. They want what they want and they are becoming impatient. Your lack of compliance does not look good for them. It causes doubt in their negotiations with the other families at a time when they all look for certainty. They are concerned that you have not yet yielded to them.”

“I will never yield. And I will certainly never yield to my brother,” Renard ground the words out through clenched teeth.

“Then take care. And be prepared.”

“I am always prepared my friend. For everything,” Sean spoke with the certainty of a man who knew his words to be undeniably true.

“We must all tread with caution. These are dangerous times, and will only get more dangerous I think if your Grimm continues to entertain us in the way that she has.” With that the call ended and the voice was gone. Sean concealed the phone, slipping it back into his jacket pocket, returning once more to his other life and just one more phone call.

It was the steady footsteps of Captain Renard that finally broke through Nicki’s iron clad concentration. Looking up she was surprised to find most of the squad room in darkness. There was just the occasional pool of light from a desk lamp, and the slow hum of the janitor polishing floors somewhere in the building. At this time of night all the activity would be down at the night desk and in the cells. For a few moments Nicki considered just crawling beneath her desk and sleeping there but she doubted the Captain would approve. The tall, handsome, broad shouldered captain that she had mentally wrapped in tape marked ‘crime scene - do not enter’ years ago. If her mind was going places it shouldn’t then that was a sure sign she needed to go home and fall into bed, and find whatever sleep she could. Renard was standing in the squad room doorway talking to a young man Nicki recognised as a waiter from the French restaurant at the end of the street. He regularly made deliveries when the Captain worked late. Nicki just needed to escape without embarrassing herself and everything would be fine. But maybe she should stay for a just few more minutes…

“Burkhardt.” Nicki jumped at the sound of her own name and spun round in her chair to face her commanding officer. He had moved quickly and silently, either that or she was more tired than she knew. He looked so much taller as he stood next to her, her seated position gifting her a disadvantage, as if she wasn’t short enough already. Renard was looking at her screen that was filled with stuff that wasn’t strictly work.

“I’ve been looking for some organisations that might be able to help Holly and her mother. It’s going to be an adjustment and the more help they have the better. I figured Holly’s mother will have her hands full so it’s the least I could do.” Nicki babbled. So much for not embarrassing herself she thought.

“You found her daughter and brought her home. You don’t need to do anything more,” Nicki blinked at him not sure if she was being told off or not. Suddenly he stepped away. “Detective. Join me in my office.”

Nicki did as she had been commanded, because there had been no question in Renard’s voice, and no room to refuse him. As she stood every muscle and joint in her body complained from being held in the same position too long. By the time she had stretched out and made it into Renard office he had a variety of takeout containers arranged on his desk.

“I asked them to send enough for two. I’m assuming, that like me, you didn’t have time for dinner. Or lunch.”

“This is very kind sir. But unnecessary,” no sooner were the words out of her mouth than her stomach rumbled loudly. Silently she called it traitor, and flushed with embarrassment.

“That would suggest otherwise,” he pushed a plate towards her. Paul’s were always very good at send proper china and silverware with any of his orders. It may be ‘dine at desk’ but there were still standards to maintain. “And they really have sent plenty. Besides there’s something I need to discuss with you.”

Nicki was about to ask what but he cut her off before she could get a single word out of her mouth. “First we eat.”

Sean removed his jacket and rolled up his shirt sleeves, catching for once her unguarded appreciation of the action. His inner ‘biest knew perfectly well that she found him attractive, although she was far better at hiding it than anyone else he knew. Just as he had to hide his mutual attraction for her. Focussing on the food and not the man Nicki caved and sat down. She loved the food from Paul’s and there was a lot here. For a while they simply shared the dishes and ate in silence. It was only as they reached dessert that the mood changed to included conversation again.

“I have no idea what this is but it tastes amazing,” the sound Nicki made as she devoured her spoonful was pure pleasure.

For a moment Renard found himself wondering what else could provoke the otherwise professional Nicki Burkhardt into making that sound. A few vividly explicit ideas flashed across his mind unbidden. None of them were appropriate ways for a commanding officer to think about someone under their command, but he couldn’t stop himself from wanting. Nicki looked up to find herself the object of marble faced scrutiny. She was no different from any of the other cops in finding Renard inscrutable and unreadable, but there were times she felt him watching her. She could feel his gaze and it confused her. He confused her. She didn’t like being confused.

“It’s a kind thing you’re doing for Holly Clark and her mother.”

“I thought you might disapprove.”

“Not at all. But you need to be able to separate from cases once they’re done Detective.”

“And I do. Most of the time, but…”

“This got to you Nicki,” his tone seemed to suggest that he understood.

“It did. Through no fault of her own she found herself in a situation that is almost entirely out of her control. I mean she’s survived, but she was alone, and even now that she’s back with her mother, nothing about her life is going to be the same again. And at some point she’s going to realise just how different her life is, and how different it could have been if none of it had ever happened. Because it should never have happened.”

The silence that settled wasn’t an easy one. Nicki felt immediately that she’d said too much. She kept silent though. She had meant every word she said and she wasn’t going to take it back even if Renard was looking at her like she’d grown a second head. She wondered if she was over thinking things but she was tired and well fed, and she felt remarkably safe, a feeling that had been missing since well before she had become a Grimm. Eventually though the silence just became too much.

“So what is it that you wanted to talk about? Sir,” she asked, silently congratulating herself on keeping it professional.

“I just wanted to give you a heads up. There’s been a lot of press interest in this story and your name, along with Hanks, has made it into the press. I know that you're not a fan of the limelight but the Chief of Police insisted.”

“I’m assuming you’re mentioned too sir,” Nicki knew the answer. Renard was popular with the press. It helped that half the city’s reporters wanted to jump him. The police department also liked him. Nicki had once heard the press officer describe in anatomically explicit ways just how photogenic Renard was although the admiration had gone much further than just how good he looked on camera.

“I am. The Chief was insistent on that too. He was keen that we capitalise on the feel good nature of the story given some of the other high profile cases we’ve been dealing with.”

“You mean the millions of dollars that his predecessor and others stole from the city’s bank accounts,” Nicki knew she didn’t like politicians for a reason.

“Just be aware that while official statements have been distributed, some of the more enterprising news outlets may talk to you directly.”

“They can kiss my…,” Nicki stopped herself mid sentence. “I will say nothing and refer them to the press office. Politely.”

“Probably a good idea.” Sean couldn’t help but smile. He took a bite of his own desert. “Holy hell thats good.”

“I don’t know what Paul’s pastry chef does but it’s magic. They have this thing with passionfruit caramel that I would happily bathe in.” Nicki hummed at the thought of it. And there were all those forbidden little fantasies again. She was relaxed and loose, and seemed unaware of just how far her guard had slipped. Sean took another bite of desert letting the taste settle on his tongue for just a moment.

“I have to say that the press aren’t the only ones to notice that we’re getting results. You and Hank have been leading the way in our increased closure rate. Even our new Chief of Police was asking about you both,”

“We’re just doing our jobs but I’m glad we could make you look good sir,”

“That is why I hired you Detective. The chief was actually asking me what your aspirations were,”

Nicki put her desert aside. “Are you asking me Captain?”

“I suppose I am,”

“In all honesty I’m not sure I have any at the moment.”

“I never thought you lacking in ambition Detective,” Renard suddenly focussed all his attention on her. He knew her well enough to know that this was not the Nicki Burkhardt he'd hired, that had been full of enthusiasm, optimism and good intentions.

“I’m not,” Nicki paused for a moment searching for the right words. “but my aunts death has left a few.... complications. And a family legacy that needs to be sorted out. I need time to” she paused again knowing that there was no way that she could say what she wanted to say, “uncomplicate things, or at least get a handle on them, before I make any plans.”

Nicki blushed at her unsophisticated and wafer thin explanation but she knew it was the best she could do. There really was nothing else she could say. She couldn’t just blurt out that her aunts death had involved her inheriting superpowers that had plunged her into a freakishly dark alternate universe the explanation of which would probably land her in a 30 day psych hold in a nice room with padded walls. Becoming a Grimm had been a huge fucking learning curve. The revelation had obliterated everything she thought she knew about her family, and the world was nothing like she thought it was. There had been days when she was convinced she was nothing but crazy, and others where she was so exhausted from living with two full time jobs that she could barely move. But she couldn’t say any of that. Captain Renard had no idea of what was out there, and he certainly had no idea of what a Grimm was. Sean wanted to tell her he knew. In that moment he wanted nothing more. Except perhaps Nicki herself.

“Is there anything I can do to help? Would you like to talk about it? I know that the manner of your aunts death was less than ideal” and one of the few things that Renard would regret. Maybe. In truth Nicki was a little taken aback by the offer. Captain Renard was respected and everyone at the precinct would follow his lead without question but he was not big on the warm and fuzzies, and none of them went out of their way to talk about personal issues with him.

“I appreciate the offer but only time will sort things out. Speaking of which I should go. I have court in the morning, and I wouldn’t want to fuck it up because I was too tired.”

“Yes Detective. I’d prefer it if you didn’t fuck it up,”

“Well I do have to continue making sure you look good,” and you do look good Nicki thought briefly before she shut down her tired and traitorous brain again. “What do I owe you for dinner?"

“Nothing. This is on me. Consider it a thank you for your hard work,” He smiled. “And for making me look good.”

“Thank you sir. I’ll see you tomorrow.”


	2. A Not So Good Day

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Not strictly canon, more like canon adjacent... but it sets up a character I want to use more of. I'm also intend to make more of the 'Seven Royal Houses of International Evil and Carnage' plot line. I just hope it makes sense ;)
> 
> btw, thanks for the views and the kudos' etc. Its been a long time since I posted any of my writing and I appreciate the support. *hugs and Wesen snuggles*

Captain Renard was right. Certain members of the press were keen to speak to her, going so far as to wait for Nicki on the steps of the courthouse, when she refused to take their calls at home. She didn’t fool herself into thinking she was important. It was just a side show to the real reason that she was in court; namely to testify in a murder trial. Thankfully Judge Logan Patterson had already ordered the courtroom be a closed session and so additional security was provided and the press were forced to remain outside.

Nicki had already been on the stand for over an hour by the time she saw Captain Renard slip into the back of the room, flashing his id to the guard on duty and taking a seat next to Wu. She gave her superior officer only the briefest of glances before she returned her full attention back to the lawyer who was questioning her. She answered Frank Rabe’s questions with an even voice, keeping her answers short, factual, and professional. Neither she nor Frank Rabe betrayed the fact that they’d met before, or that they had something of a Grimm history. Unfortunately the prosecutor, the Assistant DA Everett Jones had brought up her arrest of Frank Rabe’s wife and son for kidnap and attempted murder, when she’d first taken the stand. Jones was an ass with an attitude, and Nicki didn’t expect anything better from him. She was angry for Frank Rabe who conducted himself as an honourable man, and a loving father. Even when his son had been found guilty, and later when the complications from his wife’s injuries had become too severe to survive, Frank never shirked his responsibilities. He’d continued to do his job perfectly, and he didn’t deserve to have his professional reputation sullied. Nicki always thought of the Rabe’s with regret. She felt she could have done more to help had she not been so new to the Grimm powers.

Continuing her testimony Nicki systematically talked through the progress of the case that had started with a homicide, and had led to another, which had led to accounting discrepancies as a possible motive, which had led to large scale fraud and yet another homicide. Nicki chose her words carefully as she spoke because this case, like so many others recently, had woven in and out of the human and Wesen words. She had done double duty on this, both as a cop and a Grimm, and on all sides the evidence had led them to Michael Ross, a seemingly mild mannered family man whose friends and colleagues had only good things to say about him. Now Mr Ross sat in a courtroom waiting for judgement. It didn’t help that he’d confessed, then recanted, only to later confess again before falling into a deep silence, refusing to speak to anyone but his lawyer. Seated in court, Michael Ross stared at the floor and every line in his body spoke of defeat, as if his fate had already been decided.

Frank Rabe continued to challenge Nicki on the many unanswered questions the case contained. They were the same questions that Nicki and Hank had spent hours debating and investigating. Questions like why would a man like Michael Ross commit murder in the first place, where the hell was the stolen money, and more importantly, where the hell was Michael Ross’ wife and child because they had disappeared too. The assistant DA seemed to think that the wife had taken the money and run, leaving the husband to take the fall. Instinct told Nicki that wasn’t right but any chance of digging deeper had ended along with the investigation the moment the assistant DA decided to race ahead and press charges. Everrett Jones seemed convinced he was going to get a quick career affirming win. Nicki on the other hand was just frustrated. She did not like loose ends.

“So in short Detective, what exactly was Michael Ross’ roll in the fraud and embezzlement?” Frank Rabe asked.

“Mr Ross completed the digital transactions on his computer.”

“And where is the money now?”

“That has yet to be determined.”

“You don’t know. What can you tell us about the money?”

“It was transferred from company accounts to Mr Ross’ personal savings account. It was then moved again to an offshore account we have no access to.”

“Is the account in Mr Ross’s name? Or did you find any evidence that he set up the account?”

“No.”

“So it would be fair to say that he has not benefitted financially from the crime,”

“There is no evidence of that,”

“So in your opinion Detective Burkardt, given the evidence we do have, is the defendant Michael Ross the mastermind behind the theft of millions of dollars?”

“No.”

“Redirect your honour,” Everett Jones got to his feet. It was a little behavioural tick that Nicki had noticed long ago. Jones did it in the hope of using his large physical mass to reinforce his argument, to almost threaten people into agreeing with him. He’d tried it when she turned down his offer of dinner and something more. It suggested that maybe the man wasn’t as confident as his swagger and generally unpleasant demeanour led people to believe.

“I’ll allow it,” the judge said.

“Detective Burkhardt, given the evidence we have, did the defendant kill three people, which are the murders we’re trying him for?”

“Yes.” Jones sat down with an air of smug satisfaction and Frank Rabe turned to her once more.

“Is it possible that my client was driven to those crimes out of desperation?”

“I couldn’t say,” Nicki couldn’t help the tinge of frustration that edged her voice.

“Why not Detective?”

“Because I can only speak to the facts. Mr Ross refused to answer any questions so if you want to know about his motivation, you would need to ask your client.”

“I intend to. Right now. I have no more questions for this witness,” Frank Rabe turned to face the judge. “Your honour. I’d like to call my client Michael Ross to the stand.”

“You are dismissed Detective Burkhardt,” Judge Patterson gavelled her off the stand.

Nicki moved quickly, glad to be released. She was looking forward to getting back to the precinct and her real job. She was also looking forward to getting out of the skirt suit Everett Jones had insisted she wear because a woman in uniform carrying a badge and a gun might scare some of the more conservative members of the jury. As she moved towards the exit Nicki drew level with the opposing tables of attorneys. Jones muttered something in her direction that she didn’t catch. As she ignored him and looked towards the exit something caught her eye. Just behind Wu and Renard the security guard was unholstering his weapon. Now that she thought about it he wasn’t the same guard that had been on duty when she came in, and there was something about him that seemed off. Renard must have seen something in the expression on her face because he frowned as he turned to see what had caught her attention. Time slowed. The guard seemed to be looking first at her, and then past her, as he stepped aside to let a second armed man step into the courtroom. The guard woged, just for a second, before he continued to raise his sidearm.

“He’s got a gun. Get down.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> CLIFFHANGER!!!!......... (cue theme music!........ and the next chapter because I'm not that mean!)


	3. A Not So Good Day (Part 2)

“He’s got a gun. Get down.”

The words seemed to tumble out her mouth as she watched the barrel rise and point towards the defendant. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The second man had his gun pointed at the judge. Without a second thought Nicki threw herself towards Frank Rabe and Michael Ross as one, two, three gun shots fired. Splinters rained down on her as she the table they were half hiding under was hit.

Everything descended into chaos. There was screaming and crying as people scrambled for safety, some ducking for cover, other seeking the exits. More gun fire was answered by another weapon, the fire fight tumbling out of the courtroom and into the corridor outside. An alarm went off somewhere in the building. Then more bullets that sounded like semi automatic fire came from the distance, the sounds receding as the shooters tried to get away.

“Are you ok?” Nicki asked but she got no answer. “Mr Rabe? Frank? Are you ok?”

“Yes. I can smell blood,” A woge rippled across his face but never quite broke through. Nicki could see that he was doing everything he could to restrain the more animal side of his nature as his body was flooded with adrenaline.

“Michael? Michael.” Frank had reached out to check his client only to find the source of the blood, his hand coming up red after only the briefest of touches.

“Hold on. Somebody call an ambulance.”

“Move the table, we need more room,” Nicki told him as she rolled Michael Ross onto his back. Quickly Nicki searched for the wound. Michael Ross had taken two bullets, one in the shoulder at the top of the arm, one in the torso, both through and throughs, and he was losing a lot of blood. Nicki ripped away the jacket and shirt to get a better look. Immediately she could see that the type of ammunition had been chosen to cause maximum damage. Using the shreds of the torn shirt Nicki packed the wounds.

“Michael. We’re getting help. You’re going to be ok.” Frank was doing everything he could to keep his client calm.

“I’m afraid this is going to hurt Mr Ross,” Nicki said as she applied pressure to the wounds. She wasn’t surprised to see he was Wesen. With the pressure came pain causing his more animal side to push its way to the fore. For the first time he seemed to look at her, really look at her.

“Grimm. Get away, you’ll hurt me,” he scrambled to push her hands off him, preferring physical pain to being touched by a Grimm.

“Michael. It’s ok. This is THE Grimm. The one I told you about. Detective Burkhardt is going to help you. But you need to calm down,” Frank could see that Michael was close to woging and in the chaos some of the less principled members of the press had snuck in.

“It’s really her Frank?”

“It’s really her,” Frank said.

“I should have listened to you,” Michael stuttered as he started to lose consciousness, he grabbed Franks hand, desperate to hold on.

“We don’t have to talk about that now. You just need to hang on Michael. Help is coming,”

“Don’t bother. My life isn’t worth saving anyway.”

“Every life is worth saving Mr Ross,” Nicki spoke with conviction. He looked at her as if he couldn’t quite believe the words were coming out of her mouth.

“You have to save them. I didn’t want to do it. They made me. I had to. To protect my family.” Michael Ross took a long shallow rattling breath. He clasped at Nicki with all the fierce desperation he had left. “They’ll kill them.”

Nicki had no time to reassure the man as he finally fell unconscious. Nicki took a steadying breath. The pool of blood was still growing.

“I need your tie Mr Rabe.”

“I think it’s time you called me Frank,” he said ripped off his tie and handed it over. Quickly Nicki fashioned a tourniquet, stemming the flow of blood in the top of the arm.

“I need you to put as much pressure as you can on the other wound,” Frank did as she instructed but blood seeped out around his hands.

“Damn it. Where’s that ambulance?” Frank held his hands in place but looked towards the doors for help that was nowhere in sight.

“He’s stopped breathing,” Nicki said, then started CPR.

She had no idea how long she was there breathing air into Michael Ross’s lungs and trying to keep his heart beating but by the time the EMT’s arrived there was nothing to be done. Michael Ross died on the floor of the courtroom where he should have found justice. He may have been a killer but Nicki knew a desperate man when she saw one and Michael Ross had been desperate. He had also been very, very afraid. Nicki stepped back aware for the first time how quiet everything seemed compared to the chaos of only minutes ago. She was also aware that she was standing shoulder to shoulder with Frank Rabe.

“Did he tell you who he was afraid of?” She asked.

“He refused to say,” Frank said. “Told me it would put me in danger too. But I knew it was serious when he arranged for his wife and children to disappear.”

“You were friends.”

“Since childhood,”

“I’m sorry for your loss,”

“Just tell me you’re going to find who did this,” the words were close to a growl, menacing and full of dark intent.

“I’ll do everything I can. As a cop and a Grimm.” Nicki claimed it as a promise to herself too.

“Let me help,”

“You’ll need to tell me everything you know,” Nicki turned to face the lawyer, finally tearing her eyes away from the dead man she couldn’t save.

Suddenly the door swung open with a bang and Renard strode in. Immediately his gaze fell on her. He looked windswept, and one shoulder of his very expensive coat was torn. Wu followed behind him, almost running to keep up. Nicki saw Wu’s eyes grow wide as he looked at her. She became aware for the first time just how much blood she was covered in. Nicki drew in a deep breath willing herself not to throw up. Suddenly Renard was right beside her.

“Captain?”

“Are you ok?” He didn’t touch her but he fingers flexed at the sight of her. His inner ‘biest was demanding some physical reassurance.

“I’m fine. This isn’t my blood. I’m afraid we lost Michael Ross,” she looked back at the body and a fresh wave of nausea washed over her. What she felt though was a surge, like the air was filled with static electricity, like she felt right before a Wesen woged, but this was far more powerful than anything she had felt before. Nicki put her hand on Frank’s arm thinking that he was about to lose it. She needed to stop it if she could. What threw her was that it didn’t really feel like he was stressed, or even distressed. What she felt around her was not coming from Frank Rabe. She quickly removed her hand and scanned all the strangers in the room for the source of the feeling. She found no-one and then the feeling was gone.

“She did everything she could to save him,” Frank said, his gaze levelled firmly on Renard.

“I’m sure she did,” Sean said. His inner ‘biest raged that she had so openly touched the other man.

“And are you ok Mr Rabe?”

“I’m fine. Also not my blood. But I’m sure I’m alive because of Detective Burkhardt.” An entire conversation seemed to pass between the two men without a word being spoken. Frank was looking at Renard with a mix of curiosity and terrified awe that was usually reserved for the first day recruits.

“I assume you pursued the suspects sir?” Nicki spoke up.

“They were well prepared and had an escape route planned. And they had back up. There were additional weapons concealed along their exit route. We took one assailant down in the corridor. The other went for the roof.”

“Where he just threw himself off,” Wu interjected. “Right after he spouted something in Latin. Must have thought he was superman. He could leap tall buildings in a single bound. Once. Because they’re scraping what’s left of him off the sidewalk outside.”

“What did he say?” Nicki asked Wu who looked at her blankly. “The Latin Wu?”

“How would I know? I’m just a lowly sergeant.”

“aut neca aut necare,” Captain said. He’d hoped that Wu hadn’t heard but luck was not on his side. Given a preference, and given that he knew why such a thing would be spoken, he would have preferred to keep it out of official report. It would lead them places he wasn’t sure the Portland PD, or the city’s resident Grimm, were ready to go.

“It means kill or be killed,” Frank said. “The law can’t help but give you an appreciation of Latin.”

“Cheerful sentiment,” Nicki said, distracted by the crime scene team who arrived to make sense of what was left behind.

“Well this is unexpected,” for a man who had just been involved in a shooting Everett Jones sounded far too cheerful. “Look Renard, they told me you’re holding everyone until you’ve taken their statements. I really need to get back to my office, you have no idea the paperwork this is going to generate, so I was thinking you could just send someone down and I could talk to them when I have time.”

“You were an eye witness Mr Jones. You’ll need to give your statement before you leave,” Renard’s voice was as cold as ice. Renard had his own reasons for disliking Jones.

“I need to leave Renard,” Everett tried to force his point but Renard stood his ground and looked down on the other man.

“Strictly speaking Judge Patterson never called a recess,” Frank pointed out. “Therefore the court is still in session which means you have no where to be but here.”

“It looks like this is the end of the case to me,” Everett scanned the carnage. “There’s no one left to prosecute.”

“Not at the moment. But I don’t see how justice has been served with yet another death and far too many unanswered questions.” Frank Rabe drew his hand through his hair. “I’m sure the Chief of Police will want to at least consider re-opening the investigation. Whoever is behind this is clearly still active.”

“They were clearly afraid of what Mr Ross might have to say on the stand.” Nicki stated. The temporary silence that settled on the group was broken by the rising of Renard’s phone.

“Excuse me,” Sean said and he took himself and his phone to the far side of the room. It wasn’t that he particularly needed privacy, but it was the wrong phone that was ringing. At least it was the wrong phone for Captain Renard as he occupied his very official position in the middle of a crime scene.

“Good Morning,” he said schooling his features into bland neutrality, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

“Good Morning Sean.”

“Eric.” Never before had so much negative sentiment been summed up so efficiently into one word.

Sean was not surprised that his brother had been lurking in the background. It was what Eric did so well. Sean turned his gaze back to the group realising that Burkhardt and Rabe were each watching him intently in their own ways. It was unfortunate that Rabe had realised that he was wesen, and may even have realised that Sean Renard was Portland’s royal. If Sean hadn’t been so close to losing it at the sight of Nicki covered in blood then his secret would have remained exactly that; a secret. The revelation made Frank Rabe an issue. Sean would need to determine exactly what level of threat he was.

“I’m sorry Eric I wasn’t listening. You were saying something that wasn’t important.”

“I was saying Sean that you must be very proud. One minute you’re a hero, the next you’re being shot at…”

“And what would you know about it?” Everything was the word that echoed in Sean’s own mind.

“Let’s not be coy brother. I know you continue to work with the Grimm.”

“Detective Burkhardt is a member of my department. So yes, I continue to work with her,”

“And yet she should be working for me. We have plans and you keep getting in the way.” Eric paused expecting Sean to say something but Sean remained stubbornly quiet, forcing his brother to continue. “I’ve spoken with father and he agrees, the family has given you ample time to fulfil their request and you should be able to move forward without any delay. Deliver the key and the Grimm to me. Now.”

“Is that all?” Sean asked. There was a small huff of annoyance from the other end of the telephone.

“You forget who you serve,”

“I know exactly who I serve,” Renard watched as his officers arrived. A few checked in with Burkhardt showing concern for a popular colleague. Then Dolan, Garcia and MacDonald separated the judge, Frank Rabe and Everett Jones to take their statements.

“Any further delay would be bad for your health. And that of the Grimm. Next time the gun might be pointed at you,”

“It wouldn’t be the first time the family has tried to kill me,”

“Of course not. But it might be the last Sean. And think of your Grimm. She might miss you. It was a lovely, cozy little dinner you were enjoying together last night. So sweet. One might say almost romantic.” Sean’s blood ran cold at the idea that they had been observed. Last night, even though it was just food and conversation, had meant something even if he wasn’t ready or willing to define it. The precinct was somewhere that was supposed to be safe.

“I hope the Grimm is as delicious as she looks.” Eric’s laugh was cold and carried the promised threat of violence. “But don’t tell me. I’ll find out for myself soon enough. She can help me breed a new army of Grimms, ones that will be properly leashed and muzzled.” Sean wanted to roar. He could hear the case of his phone cracking under the pressure of his clenched fist. He didn’t dare speak in case he gave too much away. It was also pointless to argue with Eric, like all sociopaths he didn’t have a shred of humanity. Instead Sean ended the call. The pleasure in doing so was not inconsiderable.

Pushing aside his persona of the bastard prince of Portland Sean resumed the facade of police Captain. Nicki had not moved from the centre of the room where he’d left her. She stood alone, a monument to his brothers blood lust and thirst for violence. Wu had taken up coordinating and directing the other officers as they arrived, filling them in and bringing them up to speed.

“The whole building is being locked down. I’ve got Hank coordinating back at the precinct, which is where I suggest we go. Wu should come too. We need to write up our statements,” Renard beckoned the sergeant over. “There’s nothing more we can do here.”

Nicki simply followed the Captain and Wu. She nodded a farewell to Frank Rabe. They would be catching up again very soon. Renard had arranged for a car to pick them up from the judges secure parking area and take them back to the precinct so they avoided the press and the curious onlookers. As they drove past the courthouse they passed the cordon around the secondary crime scene. Nicki caught a glimpse of the body bag being loaded into the coroners van. Finally her police brain seemed to click in.

“We need to get an ID on this guy as soon as possible,”

“We’ve got people working on it already.” Renard reassured her. A look of concern passed between him and Wu. Nicki may not realise it but she was showing signs of going into shock. Renard was thinking that he wanted her somewhere safe, except even the precinct wasn’t safe if Eric had managed to get his eyes on the inside. Sean could tell that sleep was going to be a distant memory until he found out who was feeding Eric information. Until he had plugged the leak he didn’t dare make a move against his brother, or even shore up his own position, just in case Eric found out. It didn’t mean that Sean couldn’t make plans…

“You know the only person who didn’t seem surprised was Michael Ross.” Nicki looked at Renard. “He told me he knew they’d kill him.”

“When did he tell you?”

“Right before he bled out,” Nicki tried not to think about it, but it became the only thing she could think about. She closed her eyes and leaned her head against the inside of the car. She would need to get some rest because she was certain that she’d be out Grimming very soon.


	4. A Little Slice Of Normal aka Normal Isn’t What It Used To Be

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A change of pace as Nicki remembers that she has a life as well as a job...

Nicki was exhausted. It was the kind of tired that she could feel all the way down to her bones. She had showered at the precinct, pulled on clean clothes from her locker, then forced herself to sit at her desk and recall every detail of her supremely shitty day. Hank had supplied her with a cup of coffee and a hug before he took her bagged clothes away for evidence. More than once she’d caught him looking over, just making sure she was ok. She’d tried to reassure him, but any smile she sent his way felt forced and insincere. Even as she sat and tried to pretend that everything was ok she was convinced she could still smell blood. And then there were the unmistakable stains around her fingernails which she did her best to ignore as she’d stared at her keyboard. The over zealous activity of the squad room washed over her, and for once she was glad that she didn’t have to be a part of it. At some point a cup of coffee and a Reese’s nut bar had appeared on her desk courtesy of the Captain and she had devoured both like a feral animal. It had taken twice as long to write her statement than it should but eventually she was handing it off to Hank and the Captain, checking in with Wu, and being ordered not to come in again before noon. She didn’t argue.

Her one mistake had been buying dinner. It seemed like a good night for takeout but her tired and exhausted brain had no sense of restraint and decorum. As the house came into view Nicki gathered what energy she could to pay the cab driver and get out without falling over. She arrived home under the cover of darkness to find Monroe loitering on her front porch in the small glow shed by the outdoor light. The evening was crisp and cold and his breath plumed in the air.

“I saw the news,” Monroe said, drawing in a long deep breath. “And I can smell blood on you.”

Nicki was glad that no further explanation was required. Monroe’s few words summed up everything. She made it as far as the top step before she had to sit down. She looked up at him, noting the look of concern on his face.

“Do you want to go inside?”

“Not really. It’s a nice night,” Monroe said sitting down beside her. It might be a cold night but for once in Portland in December it was neither raining nor snowing.

“Are you hungry? I bought a tonne of food,” as if the point needed illustrating she held up the many bags she was carrying. It had been twenty minutes of frantic and rather random food shopping. She had no idea why she’d bought so much, maybe it was hunger, maybe it was the lingering effects of adrenaline, maybe it was nostalgia and a desire to capture something of the previous evening. The image of Captain Renard, relaxed and eating french food taunted her. It was almost like it hadn’t happened at all. Nicki let the thought of him go. She pulled a couple of burgers out of the first bag.

“How many people were you intending to feed?” Monroe took a couple of bags from her and started snuffling around inside.

“It’s all veggie. I don’t think I’ll be eating meat for a while.”

Monroe accepted one of the interesting sandwiches. He sniffed it. it seemed ok, definitely meat free. He took a bite.

“Not bad,” he took another bite. “So I figured you should know that there’s a lot of talk about what went down today. I don’t mean normal talk, I mean Wesen talk. I mean seriously, the whole Wesen grapevine has been working over time.”

“Anything interesting?” Nicki asked as she finished one burger and started in on the next and some fries.

“You protected the lives of two Wesen,”

“Depends on your perspective,” Monroe looked at her not fully understanding what she was saying. “One of the shooters was wesen. Blutbad.”

“Man. It had to be one of us. That’s so…” Monroe huffed his disappointment. “Still, you saved the good guys.”

“I failed to save one of them,”

“But they say you did everything you could. Kept up CPR until the medics came,” Monroe got that glassy wistful look she’d come to know so well. “I mean a Grimm literally breathing life into one of us. It’s poetic man. It’s no wonder they’re talking.”

“Firstly who are ‘they’ and secondly, how do ‘they’ know,”

“I don’t know man, ‘they’ is everyone,”

“You sound crazy. You know that don’t you?”

‘Hey, don’t knock it. We’re all mad here. And you’re only paranoid if you’re wrong. Anyway, what I’m trying to say is that your reputation as an evil Grimm took a battering today.”

“That’s nice,” Nicki finished her fries. Without hesitation she dived into the second bag.

“Donut?” She said pulling out the deliciously evil fried foodstuff that was smothered in frosting and psychedelic pastel coloured breakfast cereal. “I know they expect me to be all stabby stabby bang bang with a bizarre fetish for collecting heads but I’m not. Unless I have to be. Most of the time I’m a pussy cat,”

“No you’re not. If you were a pussy cat you’d be a Mauvais Dentes or a Klaustreich. Or a Weten Ogen. And believe me when I say there’s nothing benign about any of them.”

“I still don’t know what half of those are but ok, not a pussy cat. I’m still not a bad person.”

“You’re ok… for a Grimm”

“Glowing praise. All I’m saying is that it would be nice to be judged on who I am rather than what other people, and Wesen, think I am. I am not my ancestors, anymore than you are.”

“Amen to that,”

“So how are things going with you?” Nicki asked.

“Oh you know, they’re just ticking along.”

They lapsed into a comfortable silence and parted soon after, Monroe taking the rest of the food with him to save Nicki from the fried food and sugar coma she was slipping into. He was apparently saving her from herself.

Nicki let herself into the house and tiptoed upstairs, all the time convincing herself that, no matter how much she wanted to, face planting into the sofa was not a good idea. As she crept along she could see that the light was still on in Juliette’s room, the thin glow shining under her door. It went out as Nicki reached her own bedroom. She grimaced. If she and Monroe had kept Juliette awake there would be hell to pay. She started to think up ways to avoid the inevitable punishment. Moments later Nicki was in bed asleep, and not thinking of anything at all.

_***_

The following morning Nicki grew very slowly awake, her mind stumbling its way blindly towards the light of consciousness. She was reluctant to relinquish sleep, or its hold upon her. Instead she lay in the comfortable warmth of her Nicki sized duvet cocoon and tried not to think of anything. She let herself drift, dozing, careless of time, her world no bigger than a single breath. She was warm and relaxed and she didn’t want to move so much as an inch in case she loose hold of that wonderful soft place somewhere between waking and sleeping. Tranquil, unguarded and on the cusp of slumber the image of the Captain wandered into her brain.

It was an indulgence. A guilty pleasure. With her eyes closed Nicki could imagine that she was not alone. In her mind she was sleeping in a bigger bed with softer, silky sheets and there was a bigger body radiating heat into hers, not only laying beside her but curled around her, her head tucked into the curve of his shoulder, his breath ghosting across her cheek. She imagined warm naked skin. She imagined soft casual caresses, and even softer kisses that were by turns affectionate, playful, then growing demanding and passionate. The thought of Sean Renard was like wildfire across her skin, lighting her up from the inside.

Nicki rolled onto her back, Her hand drifting down her body, slipping between her thighs. The reality wasn’t what she imagined, the touch too familiar, her own hand far too small. She wanted it to be his hands, with their wide span and long elegant fingers.

There was a knock at the door.

“Nicki? Are you awake?” Juliette.

I am now, Nicki thought. Nicki blushed and immediately removed her hand. For a moment she tried to hold on to the waking dream but it evaporated leaving her cold and empty. Feeling her face burn with teenage-like embarrassment she buried her face in her pillow.

“I’ve made breakfast,” Juliette wasn’t moving from outside her door. There was no way Nicki could avoid this. This was her housemates particular style of passive-aggressive revenge.

“I’ll be right down,” Nicki said. She listened to Juliette retreat downstairs before she staggered to the bathroom to see to her immediate needs. Wandering into the kitchen in her pyjamas Nicki headed straight for the coffee.

“I’m so glad you're up. I wasn’t sure you would be,” Juliette was far too cheerful. Nicki shot her a look of cynical disbelief that Juliette worked hard to ignore. “I’ve hardly seen you in the last few weeks and I thought it would be good to catch up.”

“Work’s been pretty busy,”

“I know. Were you at the courthouse when that poor man was shot?” Juliette asked as she offered Nicki the plate of freshly warmed bran muffins. Definitely revenge, Nicki thought.

“I was,” Nicki accepted a muffin reluctantly.

“You must have been terrified,”

“Not really. It’s what we’re trained for,” Nicki took a small bite of the muffin. Juliette handed her a plate and a serviette.

“So? Is there anything else going on? I saw that guy stop by again last night. Things must be getting serious,” the sing-song tone in Juliette’s voice was beyond annoying. Nicki drank her coffee and imagined smothering Juliette with one of her many designer throw pillows.

“Monroe and I are just friends. Seriously,” Nicki felt she had to add the ‘seriously’ given that Juliette was looking sceptical.

“Well seeing as how he’s not your boyfriend, that means you’re still single so you can’t say no to a girls night out.” Juliette didn’t even take a breath as she forged on. “I’ve got some old college friends coming in from out of town and they really want to meet you. We can get dressed up, have some dinner, some drinks and a little fun. See if we can find some cute guys. What do you think?”

What Nicki thought was that she’d rather carve her eyes out with a blunt spoon. “I’ll see. I may be working,”

“You have to come. You have to. Don’t hate me but I already promised you would,” Nicki looked at the pout. It was the precursor to Juliette refusing to take no for an answer. “They’ll be here for a few days so we can pick a night when you’re free.”

“Fine. OK,” if Nicki had learned one thing during her time sharing a house with Juliette is was that sometimes the path of least resistance was the smartest one.

“Great. Look at the time. I have to go to work,” Juliette put her cup in the sink and gathered up her bag and coat. “Oh and by the way, I know you’ve been busy but you’ve been falling behind on the chores. I made a list of the things that you need to do. It’s on the fridge. Maybe you could catch up before you head into work today. And we need to get the Christmas decorations up this weekend so make sure you’re around.”

With a wave and a see you later Juliette was gone. Nicki stood alone in the empty house feeling like she’d just been swept up in a tornado. She poured another cup of coffee and wondered what the hell she’d agreed to. She hated going out with Juliette and any of her friends. It wasn’t that they were bad people, it was just that they had nothing in common. Needing a distraction Nicki plucked the list off the fridge and started contemplating the idea that maybe it was time that she moved out.

Moving in with Juliette had been expedient at the time. Juliette had just bought the house and had been looking for a room mate, while Nicki had needed a place to live after the building which held her small apartment had caught fire. Almost everything had been lost and Juliette had really helped. Now though Nicki was aware that just by living here she might be putting her room mate at risk. Juliette was also inherently a little nosy. She asked a lot of questions , and took a lot of interest in Nicki’s life, sometimes too much, and it was only a matter of time before she asked a question that Nicki wasn’t willing to answer. It was why she had moved the trailer so quickly. It wasn’t even as if Nicki couldn’t afford a place of her own, she still had the money from her parents estate sitting in an account, and surprisingly Aunt Marie hadn’t been hurting for cash either. What Nicki lacked was time to house hunt, and she had even less now she was a Grimm. Deciding that she would at least look at listings, Nicki read through Juliette’s inventory of shame again. She might as well get started.

***

By the time she left for work Nicki had relinquished her title of ‘worst housemate of the year’, and caught up on her laundry. She even stopped by one of her favourite diners to pick up lunch for her and Hank. She was feeling pretty good and itching to get back to her desk and despite the light rain she was happy to walk the couple of blocks to the precinct. Suddenly Nicki had to stop when a woman stepped into the sidewalk, blocking her path.

“Detective Burkhardt. I need to speak with you,” bedraggled, the woman had clearly been waiting in the rain for some time. “I’m told you tried to save my husband.”

“Mrs Ross?” Nicki stopped and looked at the woman that until now she’d only ever seen in photographs. She looked older and as if she hadn’t slept for weeks.

“I don’t have a lot of time,”

“There’s been a lot of people looking for you,” Nicki steered them away from the main thoroughfare and into the shadow of the nearest building.

“I know. That’s why I had to leave. Michael insisted upon it,” she scanned the street, constantly on the look out for a threat. She was using every bit of her instinct to stay alert and in control of herself.

“We can protect you Mrs Ross,”

“No you can’t. You couldn’t protect Michael,” there was a hard edge of bitterness to her voice.

“I’m sorry that I couldn’t do more. I know he was coerced. He told me right before…” Nicki couldn’t bring herself to finish the sentence. “Do you know who it was?”

“I think maybe I do. But I have no proof. He never told me. He wanted to keep us safe. Michael tried to hide it from me but he couldn’t always,” Mrs Ross took some rough folded pieces of paper from her pocket. She handed them to Nicki. “There were more but this is all I could save. One was left on the windshield of our car. The other was in our sons crib.”

Nicki unfolded the pieces of paper. In red ink on each one was the phrase ‘aut neca aut necare’.

“Michael tried to throw these away but I had to see what they were. I could tell he was frightened,”

“And one of these was left in your child’s crib?”

“While he was sleeping,” a shiver seemed to run down her spine. Once more Mrs Ross was scanning the street looking for danger. “I need to go. I just wanted to meet you.”

“Please, Mrs Ross. I have questions that only you can answer.”

“I can’t. I have to make sure our son is safe. Nothing else matters now,” the woman was certainly determined to leave but Nicki held on, just a little, just enough to slow her down, but not enough to frighten her. Nicki pressed her card into Mrs Ross’ hand.

“If you need anything, if you think you’re in danger, I’ll come and get you. If you just want to talk, call me,” she didn’t know how much of an impression she was making but she had to try. “The investigation isn’t over. We will find out who did this.”

“Then they will probably kill you too. The royals are like that,”

Nicki didn’t have a chance to ask anymore. A car alarm sounded and Mrs Ross looked towards it, terrified and defensive. An itch in the back of Nicki’s consciousness made her look the other way. There were two men loitering by a shop window. They were definitely looking in their direction, watching Nicki and Mrs Ross. They were definitely not out looking for something to gift the wife and children.

“I think you’re right. It’s time for you to leave Mrs Ross,” Nicki indicated the men.

“Oh god they’ve found me,” Mrs Ross turned to run but there was another man watching them from the opposite direction too. Mrs Ross woged in panic. Like her husband she was a bear, beautiful, but something smaller than the great black that Frank Rabe was.

Nicki hailed a cab and bundled the panicked woman in.

“Art Museum. The south side,” Nicki gave the instruction to the driver and flashed her badge. She emptied her pockets and gave money to Mrs Ross, gaining the woman's full attention. “At the Art Museum, get out, cross the street and get straight into another cab. Take that to Union Station. Make sure it’s the scenic route. At Union Station take a third cab to wherever you need to be. And please, if you get into trouble, find a public place and call me.”

Nicki shut the door and watched briefly as the cab pulled away. The men were watching intently so Nicki did the only thing she could; she ran towards them. They seemed confused by her actions and so they turned and ran, clearly not in the mood for a confrontation. Nicki followed as long as she could but one turn too many and she lost them. She found herself standing in an empty side street with Christmas carols sounding in the distance.

***

A few blocks away, outside another coffee shop two men appeared to meet by accident and yet the meeting was equally contrived. Renard had been called down to City Hall for a meeting with the Chief of Police and the Mayor ,but that was not why he was in this spot specifically. After the events of the previous day his urgent enquiry into Frank Rabe had yielded some interesting information. The first was Rabe’s impeccable professional record, the second was that, despite being Wesen, he was something of a reformer. Frank Rabe’s progressive nature and his desire to let the old ways evolve rather than cling on to them dogmatically was interesting to Sean. Renard’s contacts had also established that Mr Rabe had certain habits, this coffee shop being one of them. It was a simple thing then to ‘accidentally on purpose’ run into him.

Frank Rabe was just leaving the coffee shop when Renard held the door open for him. Frank had his briefcase in one hand and his coffee in the other. He went to offer his thanks but on seeing exactly who the good samaritan was the words dried up in his mouth.

“Captain Renard. It’s a surprise to meet you,”

“Mr Rabe,” Renard was guarded, his expression that particular shade of neutral that said nothing and questioned everything. “I’ve just come from a meeting with the Chief of Police.”

“I understand that they’re re-opening the investigation,” Frank had been thinking a lot about this moment. He knew after yesterday that he would, at some point, be having a quiet conversation with Captain Sean Renard.

“We are,” Sean watched Frank Rabe closely, noting the other man’s slightly elevated pulse, and keen gaze.

“Aut neca aut necare. Those words aren’t just a coincidence are they?” Frank decided just to rip the metaphorical band aid off and get on with it.

“No,”

“So you’re who we’ve heard rumours about. It makes sense now,” Frank wasn’t sure any of it made sense.

“It does?”

“I know about her. I know what she is. And you must too.” Frank assessed the Royal thinking that Renard really wasn’t what he had expected. “But she doesn’t know who you are,”

“Are you planning to tell her?” Sean finally got to the crux of the matter, and the most important reason he had sought out Frank Rabe.

“It’s not my place your highness. But you should. And soon,” Frank Rabe liked Nicki Burkhardt, and she was not stupid. She was also curious as hell and he didn’t want to have to lie if she asked the right question at the wrong time.

“It’s complicated,” Sean says by way of no explanation at all. Rabe raised a quizzical eyebrow.

“It always is. But I’ll keep your secret. For now,”

“How generous,”

“It really isn’t. I like the way you’re running your canton, this city and the wesen citizens benefit from it. I’m starting to think with people like our Grimm, like you, that things might finally change for the better. I hope anyway that is your intention. If it not, then my loyalty will be to her, not you.”

“I understand,” Sean said. He liked this man more and more. He always appreciated honesty in those he kept closest. Unlike his brother, ass kissing was not a skill he prized in his advisers. Sean held out his hand to Frank Rabe. They had reached an acceptable detente. “It was good to see you again Mr Rabe.”

“You too, your highness.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more soon....
> 
> BTW now might be a good time to mention that this fic will be getting a ratings bump in the future (about 3 - 4 chapters in the future). There will be sexy times....


	5. Why are there more questions than answers?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this??? Another chapter???

Nicky strode into the precinct, the meeting with Mrs Ross fresh in her mind.

“Don’t get comfortable. We have a body in the river,” Hank said, already reaching for his coat. He was thinking it would be nice if criminals could commit only one crime at a time between them, maybe take a number and form an orderly queue. “Wu’s waiting on us.”

“Wait up,” Nicki said. “Are you still coordinating yesterdays shooting?”

“Until the Captain tells me otherwise,” Nicki looked past Hank into Renard’s empty office. “He’s at a meeting at City Hall with the Mayor and the Chief of Police.”

Nicki grabbed a couple of evidence bags from her desk and slipped the notes from Mrs Ross inside.

“I’d hoped the Captain would be here so I could tell you both together.” She handed over the evidence. Hank examined the notes locked away in their little plastic baggies. “Mrs Ross gave them to me.”

Hank listened attentively as Nicki gave him a blow by blow account of the meeting and of the three men she saw.

“And you didn’t try to bring her in?”

“She was terrified Hank, and she’s right. She isn’t safe. I couldn’t stop her husband being shot in the middle of a court room,”

“Its not your fault Nicki,” Hank knew his partner well enough to know that she’d do this. She always saw any failure as personal. It was the inevitable result of her caring so much.

“Mainly I didn’t arrest her because she didn’t have her son with her. I didn’t know if his welfare would be compromised by dragging her in. I’d rather not make him an orphan,”

Hank sighed. “You’re right. And you know how I hate it when you are.”

“I’ll try not to do it again,” Nicki smiled at her partner. Grabbing some blank paper from the printer Nicki started to sketch the men she’d seen.

“Look, the Captain suggested that after what went down yesterday you be the one to talk to Ross’s lawyer. So why don’t you finish those then go talk to Mr Rabe and I’ll go see what Wu has. We can catch up with each other after. And maybe the Captain will be back by then. He’ll want to see these.”

***

Nicki arrived at Frank Rabe’s offices. Glass and steel, they were a metaphor in architecture, seemingly strong and transparent while revealing nothing of the work done within. She barely gave her name before she was ushered through the building and up in the executive elevator to Frank Rabe’s corner office.

“Detective Burkhardt. Nicki,” he said meeting her in the doorway of his office and escorting her inside. His secretary bustled in after her and laid a tray of coffee, and other refreshments on the table. The woman woged revealing herself to be a maushertz, uttered a high pitched meep, and backed out of the room closing the door behind her.

“You’ll have to excuse Margaret, she isn’t used to entertaining a Grimm,” Frank smiled indulgently at the reaction of his indispensable right hand. “Coffee?”

“Thank you,” she said taking the cup he filled. He poured another for himself.

“We have a lot to talk about, and yet where to start?” Nicki paused a little longer than was comfortable, try to get her many thoughts organised into some sort of order. “As a human detective I need to ask how much you can tell me. I also have to ask if you or your client knew who might want him dead?”

“As a human lawyer I have to say I have no idea,” Frank sipped his coffee.

“And if I was to ask you the same questions as a Grimm?”

“I’d have to say I still don’t know.”

“Could it be the royals?” Nicki asked.

Frank choked on his coffee. “Why would you think that?”

“Because it’s what Mrs Ross thinks.”

“When did you talk to Elyse?”

“She came to find me this morning,” Nicki felt that familiar surge of static when Frank was close to letting his wesen side break out. “Don’t worry. I didn’t arrest her. I did help her escape the men who were watching her. I left one of our sergeants working to put a name to the faces. Unless you recognise them.”

Nicki showed him the pictures she had on her phone of the drawings she’d made but none of them were a face he’d seen before. Frank got up from the chair he was in. He was clearly more comfortable being active when on edge.

“What do you know about the royals?”

“Nothing. This is pretty much the first time I’m hearing about them.”

“I thought your family might have educated you on that,”

“The reason I’m not a usual Grimm, is that I haven’t had the usual Grimm upbringing. No training and from what I can tell my ancestors all inherited their powers when they were teenagers. I’m 29, and my Aunts death seems to have been the catalyst. I’m as under prepared as a Grimm can be.”

“You may not want to repeat that to anyone else. Particularly those you don’t trust.”

“But I do trust you Frank,” and Nicki meant it. If it was possible she actually managed to make the man blush. “The question is do you trust me? Enough to help me?”

“There are seven royal houses,” Frank topped up their coffee. “There is very little of the wesen world that one or the other doesn’t try and control. To varying degrees of success if the rumours are true. And I must stress that a lot of what I can tell you is rumour and supposition. And what I know is very little. They are well protected, and they exist as much in the human world as they do in the wesen.”

“So do we know who any of these families are? Or where they are?”

“I couldn’t tell you who with any degree of certainty,” Frank thought of his conversation with Renard. He wasn’t technically lying, just skirting the edges of untruth. “I do know they’re active in Europe, Asia and here in North America.”

“And when you say they’re protected what do you mean?”

“I mean that they have money, power and influence. And guns. They impose and enforce their will onto the wesen community knowing that the secrecy that protects us, gives them latitude to treat us badly. They cling to the old feudal ways and if they have you in their sights, there is nothing you can do to escape. It’s why the resistance has become increasingly active in recent years.”

“There’s a resistance?”

“Where there is oppression there will always be resistance,” Frank settled back into one of the armchairs. Nicki drew in a deep breath. It was sounding increasingly like gang warfare, and that usually started badly and ended in some kind of shit show.

“So why would the Ross’ think the royals were involved? Unless it’s the words, that phrase that’s on the notes, and that the gunman yelled at the Captain,” Nicki’s brain answered the question for her as soon as she had asked the question. Frank’s silence was all the answer she needed. Nicki got up and drifted towards the window.

“There’s something that bothers me. Or rather there’s one thing that bothers me more than all the other things that bother me. If the theft of huge amounts of money was the goal of whoever masterminded this, royal or not, why pick Michael Ross as your inside man. If you look at his company, and I have, there were people who had better access, and who would have hidden the crime far better than he did. It’s almost as if he was set up to fail.”

Frank watched as Nicki turned the problem over in her mind. She would have been an impressive young woman, even if she wasn’t a reformist Grimm. And he could fully understand why Renard, his highness, was acting with caution. Nicki Burkhardt would be a formidable enemy if provoked.

“You can see why it would bother me because the question then becomes, why would he need to be discovered? What does the exposure of his crime do that couldn’t otherwise be achieved? But on the other hand if it’s not about him being discovered, then it has to be about him specifically. What did Michael Ross do that made someone blackmail him into theft and murder?”

Nicki fixed Frank Rabe with a very direct stare. “So that brings me back to my first question. What can you tell me?

****

A couple of hours later Nicki emerged from the offices to find the light in the day was fading and it was coming down cold. The Christmas tree in the foyer of Wooliston, Rabe and McGinty lent festive cheer to an otherwise drab day. It was also starting to rain. Hank was waiting for her just outside.

“So what did I miss?” she asked. Hank handed her crime scene photos.

“The body was a teenager. Shirtless, shoeless and without any eyes. And according to Harper the wounds in his neck are from IV needles.”

“He was exsanguinated?”

“Pretty much,” Hank nodded. “All he had on him was this puka shell necklace in his pocket.”

Nicki took the evidence bag from him and examined the necklace. It was well made but it still looked like the kind of thing made for tourists. She also took the picture of the young man who’s corpse only Hank had seen.

“The guy had a record for shoplifting so it was easy for Wu to get an ID. Steven Bamford. He was homeless but renting a mail box. I managed to track down a couple of kids, a brother and sister, that knew him.”

“Did they have any idea what might have happened?”

“The last time they saw him was a couple of weeks ago at the free clinic on 9th. Apparently he got a job. He was picked up in a white van, and they haven’t seen him since. And he’s not the one.”

“Homeless kids doing unregulated cheap labour. We’re going to struggle to find a lead on this,” Nicki hated cases like this, they’d need luck and leg work to get the breakthrough they needed.

“Doesn’t mean we’re not going to try. I told them to contact us if they saw the van again,” Nicki fell into step beside Hank as they walked towards his car.

“So where are these kids now?”

“Don’t” Hank said.

“Don’t what?” Nicki sounded a little too innocent.

“Whatever it is you’re thinking. You know Juliette won’t let you keep them if you take them home.”

“I know. She doesn’t like strays. She’s the only vet I know who doesn’t have any pets of her own.” I’ve always thought that was a little weird.”

Nicki turned to look at Hank and smiled up at him. Years of training enabled her to hide her surprise. It was as if she’d seen nothing at all.

“Look over my left shoulder, in front of the frozen yogurt store. Tell me that’s not one of the guys I saw following Mrs Ross,”

Hank feigned a laugh. He appeared to look down at her but instead his eyes flickered in the direction she indicated.

“It’s either him or his twin brother,” he said. “I have a sudden need for some Fro-Yo.”

Hank moved quickly, Nicki followed looking around to see if either of the other men were within sight. As soon as he knew he’d been made the guy made a hasty exit, breaking into a run. Hank and Nicki ran after him but the guy was quick, like not entirely human quick. After a block he’d put enough distance between them that in the next turn around a corner they’d lost him.

“That guy was fast,” Hank wheezed, bending over to catch his breath. “He’s obviously watching you.”

“He must think that I can lead him to Mrs Ross,” Nicki looked around hoping that she might find something. There was nothing.

“Maybe. We should get back to the precinct. Captain wants to see us,”

They were on their way back to the precinct when the call came in about a car crash and a cooler full of human organs.

***

Renard already knew about the car crash by the time Wu can to tell him of the rather gruesome discovery but he feigned surprise well enough. He knew because the driver of the other car had let Sean know that his instructions had been carried out. It was the inevitable conclusion of 24 hours of fevered activity across his unofficial organisation, shoring up the network, finding the weak links, as well as determining a few new ways that his brother had seen fit to try and infiltrate and undermine Sean’s territory. The Geiers were working for Eric, and no doubt funnelling a percentage of the profits into his pockets. Having found out what was going on Sean needed to put it onto desks of Burkhardt and Griffin. This needed to be dealt with officially, and police investigation was one of the few things that could slow his brother down. The car crash had been more violent than planned but he wasn’t going to mourn the death of an enemy, he had far too much to do.

There was something much bigger going on, and as he so often had in the past, Sean felt like he was standing on a precipice. Eric had been far more active in Sean’s territory than he’d known. Information had not been reaching him, and those who should have been loyal clearly were not. Lessons would have to be taught and examples set. Sean was not going to lose now, not when he had got this far, and not when he had a Grimm and a key within his grasp. There was a knock onto door and Wu popped his head in.

“Burkhardt and Griffin are on their way up,” Wu said and closed the door again. Sean felt better knowing that Nicki was close by.

***

Nicki and Hank rode up in the elevator together. As soon as the door opened Nicki stepped out.

“Where you going?” Hank asked.

“Ladies room. Urgent call of nature,” Nicki said and dashed to the bathroom. Finding herself alone she immediately speed dialled Monroe.

“Nicki,” he said slowly. She could tell he was concentrating but she didn’t have time for patience.

“I’m about to ruin your day but is there a vulture like wesen that has a thing for human organs?” She asked remembering the way the injured driver in the car crashed wooed before he’d died. She could hear the rather loud and annoyed dropping of tools on the other end of the line.

“Geiers. Nasty, vicious little a-holes,” the tone in Monroe’s voice was fierce. ”And where there’s one, there’s more than one. They hunt in packs,”

“So they eat humans?”

“Not really, think of them as traditional herbalists. They’re just hunting their preferred exotic animals. Humans.” Monroe didn’t really need to clarify the point but he did anyway.

“Got it. So they gather parts for sale?

“Yes. These days. It’ll be a purely for profit organisation.”

“Do you think you could text me a list of places I could buy this stuff. I need to know who they were supplying,”

“Sure.”

“I’ve got to go but thanks,” Nicki hung up and headed out to the squad room.

You could always tell when Renard was in the building as the atmosphere seemed to change. As cops they were always professional but there was an intensity to the focus that became much more pronounced.

“Burkhardt, Griffin. My office,” Sean closed the door and settled himself behind his desk.

“Just the Captain we wanted to see.” Hank said he he took a seat.

Nicki lounged against the credenza. She watched Renard smooth and straighten his tie with a little too much interest. The last time she’d been in this room she had been sitting in the space Hank now occupied. Renard caught her eye and for that moment they seemed to be remembering the exact same thing.

“I know there’s a lot to talk about but first I need to let you know that we have the official go ahead to reopen the investigation that lead to Michael Ross’s arrest. The investigation into Michael Ross’ own death will be treated as a separate investigation as present.”

“Isn’t that unusual. I mean they have to be connected so why not treat them as one case?” Hank asked.

“Officially it’s because everyone is going to be pulling double duty on this. We need to keep this case going as well as our existing, and new, caseload. The mayor is determined not pull in outside help. It makes the city look like it can’t solve its own problems.”

“And unofficially?” Nicki asked knowing that she wasn’t going to like the answer. The gaze that passed between them was direct and unflinching.

“They’re worried about corruption,” Hank stated as he leaned forward in his chair.

“After his months of silence, there were very few people who knew Michael Ross planned to testify. Whoever leaked it and arranged the murder is working either in the legal system, or law enforcement.”

Nicki and Hank exchanged looks. It wasn’t surprising. It was the thing that they had both been thinking and neither had been saying. The thought that one of your own had turned was something never to be uttered unless backed up by a tonne of proof. Mud like that could stick and end careers.

“Now the other problem is that the good will that the Holly Clark case bought us appears to be temporary, the department is about to take a hammering in the press about corruption, and public perception is already low.”

“I assume that’s what your meeting was about today,” Hank asked. He knew how mud can stick and it was to Renard’s credit that when the shit had gone down with the previous Chief of Police Renard had stood between it and his men. For a man who was already respected, it had earned him even more of a following.

“The Mayor and The Chief of Police are launching a city wide anti-corruption task force. I’ve been asked to join it. In addition to my day job.” for once the human objectives were chiming very nicely with his more Royal ones. Sean had readily agreed as it was going to give him cover for routing out his traitors.

“So how do you want us to do this Captain?”

“As one of our senior detectives you’ll continue to coordinate Hank. We’re taking over both briefing rooms. They’re to be secured, people will need id to swipe in and out. That way we can track who has access.”

“So if anything leaks we know who to look at,” it seemed like a good idea for Nicki to state the obvious.

“We’ll also break down the investigation into much smaller silos, that way no one will hold all the information. Except us.”

“People will ask questions. There are no dumb cops out there,” Hank had a horrible feeling he knew how this was going to end. He wondered if it was possible to develop an ulcer within minutes.

“Splitting the workload helps us all. Christmas is coming up and we want people to be able to spend it with their families,” Renard sounded official and well rehearsed.

“You know something sir, I almost believed you,” Hank said.

Renard drew in a breath and sat up straight. “So what have I missed today?”

Very quickly and succinctly Hank and Nicki filled Renard in on Mrs Ross, the notes and Frank Rabe. Nicki fished out the small external hard drive she’d been carrying since leaving his office.

“This is a summary of everything relating to the case. Apparently he can wave attorney client privilege because Michael Ross signed an affidavit instructing him to hand stuff over in the event of his death.”

“If he was so afraid for his life he should have come to talk to us. We can’t help if people aren’t honest with us,” Renard was clearly as frustrated as the rest of them

The preliminary crime scene report for the court room had also been returned. Renard pulled it out of the stack of things he hadn’t got to yet. One of the initial findings was that if it hadn’t been for Nicki’s swift action Frank Rabe would have been victim number two. It was only when Hank saw fit to mention the second sighting of Nicki’s new shadow that Renard’s expression turned dark.

“You saw one of the men again,”

“It was definitely him Captain,” Hank said.

“I don’t think I’m in any danger. They don’t seem to want to engage. Both times they’ve run off if we’ve got too close.” Nicki wanted to down play any danger. She considered it inconvenient if anything. She'd have to be far more careful about her trips to the trailer if she had a little shadow or three. 

“When you’re not in this building. You check in with Hank or me, every half hour,” he must have seen Nicki roll her eyes in disgust. “It’s either that or I restrict your duties and put you under guard.”

“Every half hour,” Nicki repeated back thinking that every man she was surrounded with was an over protective worry wart.

Hank moved the conversation on to the other case. It seemed like too much of a coincidence that there was a dead teenager missing pints of blood and the illegal transportation of human organs. However coincidence didn’t stand up in court so they had to wait for tests to confirm the link between the two cases. They also had to wait for techs to work their magic on the dead drivers phone. Renard listened to them theorise about the case for a while, and had no doubt that Eric’s little enterprise would be shit down soon. With nothing left to say Hank and Nicki excused themselves from Renard’s office and went to find their own desks. It was going to be a long night.

Renard watched them go. No sooner had Burkhardt and Griffin left his office than Sean placed a call.

“Hello Sean.” Meisner’s thick German accent came through loudly. 

“We need to meet, sooner rather than later. I have a job for you. One that will serve both our interests,” Sean had plans and he needed some he could trust. Meisner would be perfect for the job.

“I’m intrigued. As it so happens I am close to Portland. I’ll see you soon.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So..... Now might be a good time to mention that while I do have a plan for the story I don't actually know how long it's going to be or how many chapters. I guess that will be a surprise for everyone - including me! In the meantime I will try my best not to be boring


	6. Ignorance Is Never Bliss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And another chapter!!!  
> You'll notice that I lifted a little dialogue straight from the show. If I could write better I would, but they nailed it, and I can only aspire to equal genius.

A dirt track led them off the main road and onto the burned out derelict property that was 21343 Murtaugh Road. Whatever disaster had befallen this place had happened a while ago as the forest was already reclaiming the property as its own. While it was clearly abandoned the track that ran along the side of the house told a different story. Tyre tracks pushed deep into the mud told of recent traffic. Officially it was the drivers phone that had led them here. Unofficially it was backed up by a little after hours Grimming with Monroe which had led her to a Tea and Spice shop run by Freddie Calvert. After finding out she was a Grimm, the terrified shop owner had been only too happy to tell her everything. Nicki had sat and listened to him, and the more she listened the more he’d talked. Nicki had learned a lot and in the end Freddie had offered her excellent tea and some keen insights about the wesen black market activities of Portland. She had shut down his operation but in return she promised to look in on him from time to time. She considered it a good nights work, even if she was a little short of sleep.

Leaving their vehicles Hank, Nicki, Renard and Wu pulled on bullet proof vests and armed themselves, unsure of what they would find. Nicki has no idea why Renard had insisted on coming with them as it wasn’t usual but according to Wu he’d taken this case very personally. As she strapped herself into her own protective gear she couldn’t help but appreciate the way thathe was still elegantly dressed, or the way that the suit fitted his body as he reached into the trunk of his car and pulled out the shot gun. Renard was hyper focused, determined to get this done. Sean wanted his brother to know that he took these unwanted incursions into his territory seriously, so seriously that he would deal with them personally.

They moved quickly and quietly through the undergrowth. The sound of a radio somewhere up ahead, and the grinding hum of a generator led them towards a banged up trailer hidden deep in the property. As Nicki and Hank approached from the front Renard and Wu hung back. Renard using the site of the gun to watch what was going on. Nothing about this place said it was a good place to be. No sooner had Hank knocked on the door and identified them as cops than the window blew out and Nicki found herself staring down the barrel of a gun. Then the gun was gone, as was the shooter.

“He’s down,” Renard shouted.

Nicki looked back as Renard and Wu made their way towards them. The silence suggested there was no one else inside. Clearing the scene they found the perp dead from Renard’s single shot.

“Remind me never to piss off the Captain,” Hank said as he checked the pulse, secured the guys weapon, and stepped over the body.

Nicki made her way to the far end of the trailer where a rancid smell seemed to rise from behind the closed door. Stepping through the door the smell seemed to stick in her throat and her nose, making it difficult to breath. Tray after tray of human organs sat drying in the makeshift greenhouse.

“This is…” Nicki found herself lost for words. This was one of those times when the reality was so much worse than what she had imagined.

“Anyway you look at it its cannibalism,” Renard looked around. Eric would pay for this. He would make sure of it.

A phone rang from inside the trailer. Going to it Nicki returned the call.

“It’s the free clinic,” she said looking up at Hank. Those few words explained just how the kids were falling prey. It’s because everyone trusted a doctor. Nicki got really angry really fast, but she still wasn’t as pissed off as Hank. These kids had nothing and people who were supposed to help had been exploiting and killing them.

With the lead came purpose. Heading to the clinic they arrived to find it almost deserted. Hank exchanged a look with his partner that suggested that maybe Renard was right, they did have a corruption problem, and maybe they also had a leak in the department too because there is no way that they should have been spooked enough to leave. Nicki leant a little too firmly on a witness but she really didn’t care, if there was a right time for the softly-softly approach this wasn’t it. She hadn’t touched her, or hurt her, she’d simply used her fearsome myth as a head collecting Grimm to extract what information they needed.

Raiding the compound was a different matter. Renard had thrown resources at the raid, sending in SWAT teams with his officers. Nicki was happy to find herself up front with Hank because she was in the enviable position of being the only one who knew the whole picture. She was the only one who knew what these people really were. And she wanted to make sure that she was in a position to protect her partner if anything went sideways. Hank was a great cop, but he literally had no idea. When the first shots were fired, neither of them thought twice, they simply kicked the door in and opened fire.

In the end though the raid had gone well. None of the good guys had been hurt seriously and the last of the street kids had been packed into ambulances and sent to hospital. As Hank over saw the kids Nicki found herself sitting on the back of another ambulance getting her own wounds seen to. The Geier formally known as Dr Levine had got her good. The wounds on the palm of her hand smarted. Thankfully though her jacket had stopped the wounds on her back from being too deep. They were mostly light scratches and would heal and fade in a couple of weeks. It was another jacket and shirt that she’d have to consign to the bin. Nicki saw clothes shopping in her future and she hated clothes shopping.

In the light of day a forensics team would be out here to dig through the site, to try and establish just how many people the Geiers had killed. It would take days, if not weeks to sift through the fire pits they’d thrown the bodies into, as well as catalogue the body parts that had been found in the cabinets in the makeshift operating theatre.Nicki’s Grimm kicked in. What they had found would supply more than just Freddie. It was a far bigger operation than just creating the goods to supply one shop here in Portland. There had to be more, the question was, how many and were they just in Portland or were they moving goods much further? Nicki felt sick that this could be going on undetected elsewhere. The problem with the scheme is that it was genius. Evil genius, but it would be so easy to replicate. Was there another Grimm in another city shutting down another illegal human chop shop? She hoped so.

***

Renard hung up his coat as he entered his office. It was late but there was still paper work to do and he had a late night appointment to keep. He’d already delayed his return to his desk for ‘other’ business. Sean had put his own people on site at the compound. They’d held back and hidden in the shadows and they had picked up those few who tried to escape justice. And now, thanks to a little ‘enthusiastic persuasion’ Sean was one step closer to finding out the name of the traitor in his own department.

Moving towards his desk he was stopped short when he saw two gifts sitting on his desk. One was small and wrapped in brown paper, tied simply with string. The other was a very good bottle of whiskey. A post-it had been stuck on it. ‘Thanks for having our backs Captain, Burkhardt and Griffin.’ Sean traced the handwriting with his thumb. The handwriting was Nicki’s. Sean had to admit that taking out the Geier with his shotgun had been a very satisfying part of his day. His aim had been great, but all he had seen was a bad guy waving a gun around and pointing it at Nicki.

It was with some curious trepidation that he turned his attention to the other package. Peeling away string and paper, he saw the scythe cut into the wooden box. Reapers. The ear inside was a little dramatic. Within seconds his phone rang. If he didn’t already know he had a mole he would have thought it odd that they knew the exact moment he’d opened their little gift. They were hardly being subtle. After all the package had to get on his desk somehow and he doubted it went through the mail.

“Did you get your present?”

“Where should I send the thank you note,” Sean said pushing his gaze past the half closed blinds. There were plenty of sergeants and detectives still going about their duties. However, only one of them was a traitor and would likely die soon.

“You made your point, now we’re making ours. The world is becoming more complicated,”

“Only for the simple minded,”

“You are going to have to control this Grimm, or get rid of her,”

“What I do, and how I do it, are none of your concern,”

“I speak for the family and they have a different opinion. Things are getting out of balance. A Grimm on her own is like a samurai without a master,”

‘Well this one has a badge and a conscience,” and a body I want to get lost in Sean thought.

“That is your problem”

“Next time you might want to deliver your message in person,”

“Next time we will.”

Sean worked well into the night and he only went home long enough to change his clothes. He made sure he wasn’t seen when he left his building via the back stairs. Slipping into the night he pulled the collar of his coat up around his face and kept his head down. It had been raining in Portland, a fine mist of water still hanging in the air, but the cold temperatures were turning the rain to soft snow. Only the most hardened of drinks or party goers were still out, most of them ending a night instead of just starting one. Sean walked briskly through the streets of his city, careful not to be seen, using the reflections in shop windows to ensure he wasn’t watched or seen, doubling back just in case he was. Tonight he needed to be invisible.

He had been walking for over an hour before he slipped inside a bar in downtown. It was dark, woodsy and the kind of place that Wu would describe as lumberjack-chic. It was just busy enough to give them the cover they needed. As expected he found Meisner in the back waiting for him an open but untouched bottle of craft beer, and a tumbler of scotch, on the table before him.

“I was beginning to think you wouldn’t come,”

“I had to make sure I wasn’t seen,”

“It must be important if you asked to meet in person,”

“I believe Eric has managed to enlist an informant within my precinct,” Sean wasn’t going to share that the mole was not his only traitor. Meisner was trusted, just not that much.

“This is not good for any of us,” Meisner looked up for a moment, scanning the room. “What do you intend to do?”

“I intend to act, and swiftly. If you have a cancer the only way to deal with it is cut it out,” Sean took a sip of his drink, he let the smokey liquor rest on his tongue for a moment.

“So what do you need me for?”

“Our city’s new chief of Police has also decided that it's time to clean house. He wants to put an end to corruption. As I believe Eric is behind many of the problems I’m only happy to help.” This time Sean looked around the room, making sure that they were not being watched, verifying the exits were clear. “If we had time I would do it myself but I need you to look into every member of my precinct. I want to know who is susceptible to corruption. Find their secrets and their weak points. Then apply a little pressure to see who breaks.”

Sean slid a small key drive across the table to Meisner. It disappeared into his empty palm.

“These are the personal files for everyone I want you to look into. It includes the file for the Chief of Police too. I have no intention of getting burned again.”

“Does this include the Grimm?”

“Yes. I want to know that she can trust those closest to her.” Sean moved closer. "She is being followed."

“I know.” Meisner moved closer too, his voice dropping. “It's unpleasant news but your brother has put a bounty on her head. She is to be delivered to him alive.”

The glass in Seans hand cracked, his ‘biest raging inside.“Eric sees me as weak, and he thinks my position precarious but I will destroy him before I let him take her.”

“Whatever alliances your brother has crafted between the seven families it is tenuous at best. Not all the families are as loyal as they pretend to be. More than one of them is unhappy that Eric has placed himself above them all. And more than one of them has eyes on your Grimm. They seek the advantage for themselves.” Meisner got up quickly. “I think we must all take care. I will contact you soon,”

Sean waited a few moments and settled in to enjoy the rest of his drink. He had a lot to think about.

_***_

Nicki thought twice about bothering Monroe but there was something that made her want to talk. Pulling up in front of Monroe's house she got out of the car. It was late, or was it early. There was no sound in the street and it would be hours before the sun was up. It was starting to snow and Nicki let the chill of the day settle around her. Winter in Portland was always bracing and she was waiting for it to turn really cold. Her breath plumed in the air before her. Every house on the street had their Christmas decorations up, which reminded Nicki tat she hadn’t done her shopping yet and she really should get on that. And then she felt it. That sense that told her she was being watched, and more than that, that there were Wesen close by. Everything told her she was in danger, and the last thing she wanted was to lead it straight to Monroe’s door. Looking around the street was empty but that didn’t mean she wasn’t right.

Turning away from Monroe’s house Nicki headed towards the park across the street. As far as she could she kept to the open, and then she saw it, the slight movement in the trees that was neither wind nor shadow. Nicki turned a corner to find three Geiers dropping from the canopy to block her path ahead. Nicki took a couple of steps back and heard the soft thud of two more Geiers dropping into the undergrowth.

“You made a mistake little girl,”

“Look again vulture,” Nicki held her ground and pulled herself up to a full height. She checked her gun but didn’t draw it. She didn’t want to shoot anymore people tonight unless she absolutely had to.

“You cost us money,”

“You killed our friends,”

“And how many have you killed?” she spat back watching them as they inched a little closer to her.

“We’re just trying to make a living,” one said stepping forward. “Luckily, you’re going to make up for what we lost.”

“I don’t think so.” Nicki had no idea what they were talking about but she didn’t feel that now was the time to ask.

“Make sure you don’t hurt her. We need to keep her alive to claim the bounty,”

“Alive doesn’t mean we can’t rough her up a bit,”

“It’s a shame. I bet her insides look so pretty. I was looking forward to ripping them out,”

“So sorry to disappoint,” laughing darkly Nicki planted her feet and readied herself for whatever came next.

The Geiers all rushed her in a single attack. She deflected most of the blows, twisting and shifting to keep away from the sharp claws. It occurred to her that, after little sleep and her minor injuries, that she should be losing strength. Instead she felt this amazing surge of energy come from somewhere within. All her senses seemed to heighten and she seemed to feel, or know what the Geiers were going to do before they did it. A couple drew out small knives, curved steel blades that flashed blue in the street light and were about the same size and shape as their own claws only more deadly. Nicki had two Geiers unconscious before she knew it. The problem with even the Grimm strength was that nothing could last forever. Finally Nicki went for her gun only to have it knocked out of her grasp.

When one of the Geiers with the blades went down she scooped up the knife and started slashing at the Geiers still standing. She caught one in the neck, getting sprayed with blood. As the life left his body, his form and face changed back into the man he was. Momentarily blinded Nicki was caught off guard by another. The one who had spoken of a bounty. He knocked Nicki off her feet. They hit the ground together, rolling as neither wanted to give the other the opening they sought. Nicki felt the claws dig deep into the flesh at her waist. The scratches in her back from earlier were opened up, fresh blood pouring from her wounds, seeing or smelling her weakness, her attacker went for her existing wounds, assuming the weakness would be a quick way to take her down. Nicki took the only chance she had left. Releasing one of his hands to free up her own, to punch him in the face. Twice. She then pinned him to the ground, wrestling the talons that were clawing at her and pinning them down too.

“Who has a bounty on me? Who told you to come and get me?”

The Geier smiled and laughed. He had the look in the eye that said he was done. He wasn’t going to say anymore.

“Tell me.”

“Never”

Nicki punched him again and knocked him out. Scrambling away from him she checked the others. They were all either dead or unconscious. With the immediate danger gone she felt all the extra Grimm strength leave her body.

Nicki dropped to her knees. She could feel blood dripping down her back and arm. She heard footsteps behind her and scrambled and grabbed for her weapon. She swung the gun around, squinting, trying to focus it despite the blood in her eyes.

“Woah, Nicki,” Monroe approached, hands up as if in surrender, pacifying the out of control Grimm instincts. “It’s just me.”

“Monroe. What are you doing here?”

“I saw your car parked out front and then I smelt blood. I hoped it wasn’t going to be yours,”

“I have to call this in. I’m too injured not to. And there's these a-hole's to deal with. You need to go home. They’ll come to your place when I tell them I was visiting for breakfast. Is that ok?”

“Sure. Anything,” Monroe took a step then hesitated. “I can’t leave you here.”

“You have to. Now go. I’ll see you soon,”

Monroe retreated and Nicki made the call to dispatch. The next call was to Hank.

For the second time in a week Sean Renard arrived at a crime scene to find his detective, Nicki Burkhardt covered in blood. This time too much blood was her own. He took a few moments to get his ‘biest under control; he couldn’t afford to lose it like he did in the court room. The next person might not be as understanding as Frank Rabe. He found the desire to just grab her and take her somewhere safe was almost overwhelming. This was no doubt as a result of the bounty that Eric had put on her head. It was a dangerous game he was playing.

“This is becoming a habit detective,”

“Well I try my best to keep you entertained sir,” Nicki looked up at him from where she sat perched on the edge of the ambulance. Her jacket had been discarded and her shirt was hanging off her in shreds. She should have been feeling like crap but she was looking at her Captain and she felt fine. She’d never seen him outside work, or dressed in anything other than a suit, but here he was in jeans and a sweater looking like a Ralph Lauren menswear ad. Her mouth had gone dry and other parts of her were very, very wet.

“Wrong time, wrong place?" Sean said as he looked around the scene of bloody suburban carnage.

“They followed me here. They’re part of the same group that took the kids. They were pissed we shut them down. Apparently they’d decided it was all my fault.”

Sean let her have that explanation, knowing it was at least partly true. And of course he was the only other person here who did know the rest. Wu wandered over.

“Well we have a total of 17 knives, 2 guns and other assorted accessories of violence,” he said holding up the evidence bags. “One might even call it over kill.”

Pun successfully delivered Wu wandered off again to log the evidence.

“I don’t think they wanted me dead. I think I was supposed to be a message,” Nicki flinched as the paramedic applied something antiseptic that stung like crazy to her back. The EMT finished off with instructions for her to get the dressings changed in a couple of days and a warning about no strenuous activity for the next few days.

Renard removed his coat and then pulled off his sweater which he offered to Nicki.

“I can’t. I’ll get blood on it.”

“That’s what dry cleaners are for.”

Uncertainly Nicki took it and eased herself into it. It was still warm from his body and smelled of his cologne. Nicki couldn’t help but draw comfort from it. She was exhausted and hurting and suddenly she felt like she wanted to cry.

“Thank you Sean,” her voice sounded small, even to her own ears.

“You’re welcome Nicki.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks again for the continued reads, comments and kudos. I can't tell you how much it means... It makes my little heart sing with Wesen joy *hugs*


	7. Three Coins

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What's this? Another update??? What can I say except that it seemed a good use of my day off.

Nicki clutched the mug Monroe passed her and inhaled deeply. There was something so easy about standing in Monroe’s kitchen, her friend still in his pyjamas and robe, hair sleep tousled, as he grumbled about the interruption, while all the time being the perfect host and never turning her away. She smiled at him over the rim of the coffee cup.

“So I have something for you.” Reaching into her jacket pocket Nicki pulled out a small white waxed paper bag. The seal gave it away as coming from Freddie Calvert’s tea and spice shop. She offered him the bag which he hesitated to take.

“I was talking to Freddie and he gave me a taste of this. It’s a spice blend for putting in coffee.” Nicki took a sip from her cup as if the point needed anymore punctuation. “It’s human free.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes,” her answer was just a little too quick and gave her away.

“You had it tested didn’t you,” he knew. From the slightly shameful look on her face he knew. Nicki didn’t like that she’d been so suspicious. She wanted to trust Freddie but she didn’t want to be an accidental cannibal more.

Monroe opened the bag and took a sniff. His nose was assaulted by the rich deep aroma of roasted nutmeg, smoked cinnamon and a few things that even he and his acute sense of smell couldn’t identify. But he agreed. Definitely human free.

“So you’re still visiting Freddie,”

“I’ve dropped in a couple of times. He’s a nice guy, hidden depths, and I wanted to make sure there wasn’t any blow back from the Geier case. I know we arrested every body we could find,”

“Yeah, those you didn’t kill,” Monroe half laughed. It had only been a week since he’d found Nicki on her knees, surrounded by bodies, but thanks to her inner Grimm almost all the wounds had healed.

“But with any kind of blackmarket network you never know who’s left behind. Sometimes you can leave a vacuum that others are only too happy to fill. Plus, I promised him I would look out for him.” The ‘I don’t want what happened to me to happen to him’ went unspoken but fully understood.

“Hey, you don’t have to justify yourself to me. I actually think its a really great idea. Apart from the obvious benefit to him, a lot of Wesen go through his store. If you can convince Freddie you’re one of the good Grimms then word should spread pretty quickly.” Monroe refreshed his coffee, took a pinch of his gift and sprinkled a little into his cup. “You know you don’t have to keep bringing me presents.”

“I drink your coffee. I eat your food. I interrupt your pilates, and I regularly endanger your life. And one day I may need your help to bury a body. I think the occasional gift is ok.”

“Well if you put it like that…” he drank. Freddie Calvert was a spice grinding genius. A silence settled between them that was so deep they could hear his clocks ticking, all of them. Monroe had not known Nicki long but he knew her well enough to know when she had something on her mind. “Spit it out.”

“What?”

“Whatever it is you’re not asking me,” he said. She may have muttered something about stupid Blutbad senses. He fixed her with ‘the’ look. Her deep sigh was her admission of defeat.

“Given what you are, and given that you know what other people might be, how do you date?”

“Wow. That so wasn’t what I was expecting.” Monroe shifted uncomfortably. “Given that most normal relationships are beyond me, I’d say badly.”

“So you just don’t?”

“Occasionally I try, but it seems like kind of a futile waste of time. I do it more for the release, you know.” He shifted uncomfortably. “Do you have somebody in mind?”

“Not really,” she did. She had someone very much in mind and that was the problem. Try as she might she couldn’t seem to get his tall, broad shouldered, green eyed, French food loving, fluffy sweater wearing image out of her mind. She needed to forget about him, or at least find a way to get the thought of Sean Renard back in the metaphorical box she’d kept him in for the last few years. She looked at her friend to find him staring at her with great scepticism. “Here’s the thing. I haven’t dated since before my Grimm powers decided to, you know, turn my entire world upside down.”

“And you’ve got an itch that needs to be scratched. I’m with you,” Monroe nodded sagely.

“I just don’t see how this can be anything but difficult. I mean what if I was to pick up a Wesen? They could be either terrified, or want to kill me.”

“A literal passion killer.”

“And what if I picked up a human? I could hurt them because, I may look like a girl, but I’m so much stronger than I used to be. And then there’s just so much inherent danger in what I do. I don’t think I could ever ask someone, particularly someone I loved, to take that risk. I couldn’t put someone I love in danger. Which leaves me with chasing one night stands, which I’ve never liked.” Finally drawing breath Nicki decided now was a good time to shut up.

“You’re a romantic Nicki.”

“I wouldn’t say that.”

“I would. For all your independent modern woman living, deep down you’re a happily ever after girl. But unlike most princesses you have the weapons and skills to slay your own dragons.” Monroe chuckled. “Look I’m not an expert, I’ve only ever dated Wesen, and most of those were blutbad, but since I changed, those relationships have had to change to. It’s about finding what you can live with but I agree, it’s totally harder for you. What you really need is someone who’s as unusual as you are. Someone who doesn’t have a problem with occasional violence, and who can straddle both worlds, and is fine with that.”

“Is that all? I’ll let you know when I find him.”

“Ask him if he has a sister when you do,” Monroe was suddenly a little depressed. Sometimes he felt like a total loser. At least he wouldn’t spend Christmas totally alone this year. Nicki was joining him for a Christmas Eve dinner and sleep over before she took the Christmas Day shift at the precinct. “Thank Santa for good friends.”

“Good friends,” Nicki raised her coffee mug and toasted Monroe. “Did you ever have a moment when you realised that your life was never going to look the way you thought it would?”

“Every day man. Every day.”

***

Hank had been off ever since he’d picked up the coins and now he was holding onto them like his life depended upon it. Nicki had even needed to remind him to put them into an evidence bag. Hank never messed up evidence. There was just something the coins. From the moment she’d set eyes on the coins every Grimm instinct she had was sitting up and taking notice. They seemed to hum. The longer she was a Grimm the more attuned Nicki became to the various skills the inheritance from hell came with. And somehow she knew that things were about to get weird. Hanks behaviour was just the beginning.

Following the only good lead they had from the jewellery store robbery Nicki had not expected to enter the suspects house and find two dead bodies and two men standing. It didn’t help that Hank was jumpy, itching for a fight, and when the one man who didn’t run just stood there and waited patiently to be arrested Nicki watched as her partner twisted the guys hands behind his back, and cuffed him with violent glee. She also watched as the guy changed into the most handsome of birds. An eagle of some kind if Nicki wasn’t mistaken. She saw it again as they placed him in the interview room at the precinct. If the Captain hadn’t called them into his office she would have gone in to talk to him. Other than Monroe, he was the only Wesen she’d met that wasn’t frightened of her at first sight. He was almost analytical in his assessment of her, as if she could be either prey or a hunting buddy.

“What’s up with him?” Wu asked indicating Hank who was being both loud and obnoxious.

“Bad day I guess,” Nicki suggested. “Could you check on Officer Brennan. The guy he chased got away and Hank kind of rode him hard.”

“Sure thing,” Wu grateful took the excuse to get out of Hank’s way.

Inside Renard’s office Hank was pacing like a caged animal. It was impossible for the Captain not to see that something was off with him. Hank was usually so steady, so level headed, except when he was picking his next wife, but this was something else. He was as twitchy as a junkie coming down from a big score. Nicki slipped inside and Renard closed the door of his office.

“Does someone want to tell me what’s going on?”

“There were these coins. Harper pulled them from the jewellers stomach,” Nicki started the conversation but Hank talked over her.

“So we got to the house and I took him down,” the boast was underscored by Hank hitting one fist into his other hand.

“Slow down, I want to hear about these coins,”

“The coins are not the problem. It’s that guy we took down. Just give me five minutes with him,” The look in his eyes said that five minutes would be more than enough to make sure that Kolt didn’t come out alive.

“Hank,” Renard said with all his authority. He then moved so he was crowding his detective, using his height to dominate his subordinate officer. It was a move Nicki had never seen Renard make before. Finally, reluctantly, Hank handed them over. Renard weighed them up, examined them, held them up to the light. Nicki saw his eyes dilate unnaturally and it was as if the humming from the coins hit a higher frequency. Nicki wanted to snatch them away from both men. Whatever the coins did, neither one seemed immune. Hank moved forward, looking for a confrontation.

“I’ll take them in to evidence,” Nicki said getting between them, holding her hand out, hoping, but not expecting, the Captain would give them up to her.

“I can do it,” the look on Hank’s face was murderous.

“It’s alright I’ll get them there,” Renard folded the coin he held into his closed hand. He moved back behind his desk.

“Captain?” It was both a question and a complaint from Hank.

“It’s my understanding that you came on a little strong with our suspect tonight. It’s been a long day. I suggest you go home and get a little sleep. Detective Burkhardt will interview the suspect.” Renard dismissed them out of his office, his gaze returning to the treasure in front of him.

“Hank. Let’s go,” Nicki ushered Hank out of the office and then listened to him bitch about Renard until he’d calmed down enough to do as he was told.

With Hank out of the building and Renard sequestered in his office Nicki did the only thing she could. She went to interview Farley Kolt. Taking a seat opposite the man Nicki thought she’d never seen such a relaxed suspect.

“Balistics will prove that Flynn and Hans shot each other.”

“Flynn and Hans?” Clearly Kolt knew the dead men.

“Ian Flynn, Irish by way of Berlin, Hans Roth, Austrian, they bothered. With a Spaniard. Soledad Marquesa.”

“Who got away.”

“It would be helpful if we could talk off the record. Is this being recorded?” Kolt looked around. “Look this has nothing to do with you being a cop. Really I couldn’t care less. This has to do with who you are and with who I am. You’re not the only Grimm I’ve ever known. In fact. The reason I’m here is because of a Grimm.”

“Tell me about the coins,” There was no way this wasn’t about those three freaky pieces of gold so Nicki endeavoured to keep them on topic even though Kolt was throwing her by how openly he was discussing wesen stuff.

“A lot of people have died trying to get their hands on them. The coins bestow a kind of charismatic influence on whoever possesses them. Then come the series of devastating effects.”

“Where do they come from?”

“That my friend is a long, long story.”

Nicki listened to Kolt give her a history lesson of the coins as she tried to link it up with the various bits of history she’d learned in school. Of course it helped that Marie had fed her a steady diet of classics, including Plato, Cicero, Catullus and more. Nicki had always thought it was the librarian in her aunt, now she was thinking that Marie might have known that the coins might cross her path one day. By the time they reached Hitler and the third Reich Nicki’s head was spinning.

“So after the defeat of the Nazi’s the coins disappeared again. Now, Grimm’s are stronger than most, not so easily affected, and they have taken great care to protect them and they were successful at it until 12 years ago when the Grimm that was protecting the coins was found and murdered. Once again the coins were in circulation.”

“Who was the Grimm who was killed?”

“I think you know. Detective Burkhardt,” so Kolt had known who she was. He had been testing her, while she had been testing him. “You know I met your mother once. She didn’t approve of me and Marie. She was very much an old fashioned Grimm.”

“I’ll have to take your word for it.”

“He was one of them you know. One of the ones who killed her. Soledad Marquesa.” Kolt leaned forward across the table. “Don’t keep me locked up. You need my help to find those coins, because once those coins get a hold of you, you will fight to the death to keep them.”

Kolt’s words drifted off but his meaning hung in the air, like a deep shadow, and a chill ran down Nicki’s spine.

Wu knocked on the door.She pushed her chair back and got to her feet.

“We have to wait for the Ballistics report before you can be released,” Nicki reached the door before he spoke again.

“How is she by the way? Marie. Is she here in Portland?” And for the first time Kolt sound anything but in control.

Wu knocked again. This had to be urgent. Nicki was both relieved and annoyed. She wanted to tell Kolt about Aunt Marie but she found the words dying in her throat. Like a coward she let herself out of the room.

“Officer Brennan never reported back from the crime scene.”

“Did you tell the Captain?” Nicki looked towards an empty office.

“Sure. Before he left to go to evidence.”

“I got a positive id on the suspect who got away. Soledad Marquesa.”

***

“Let me guess, the coins weren’t in evidence when you went to check,” Hank stood shoulder to shoulder with Nicki at the back of the room as they watched their Captain deliver one hell of an inspiring speech to the press that had been hastily assembled.

“Nope. Just the box,” Nicki had known from the moment she’d seen the Captain in his dress uniform that something was wrong. The coins were louder than ever and even Renard seemed to vibrate with energy. It felt that way it did in the courtroom, like a great surge was building but had yet to define what it would become.

Now Nicki watched her Captain deliver his address from the back of the room knowing that the coins that should have been in evidence weren’t. The box had been empty, so it wasn’t that Renard had just forgotten, it was that Renard had been inspired to steal evidence and then cover up the misdemeanour. The empty box was now stuffed in her jacket pocket waiting to be reunited with its contents. If they acted on him the way they acted on Hank there was no telling what could happen. It was unfortunate Renard had decided to do it with an audience.

The Captain looked every inch the man in charge. Sean scanned the crowd that had gathered in front of him, every one of them hanging on his every word. The ones who stood before him may not know it but he was speaking to his family just as much as he was speaking to them. He didn’t just feel powerful, he felt invincible. Amongst the crowd and his gathered army of officers he sought out one in particular. Nicki had been given a starring role in many of the delicious dreamsof a future he had every intention of making a reality. Staring at her over the crowd he spoke to her too.

“We will protect what is ours, what is precious and valuable to us. Those who seek to do us and this great city harm have infiltrated our ranks but now is the time for us to take back our city, evict those who seek to do us, and what we love harm, and raise this city up to be a shining example to all.”

Sean drew the press conference to a close. He had a city to protect and a Grimm to claim.

“What did you say was in those coins again?”

“Arsenic and Mercury. That we know of,”

“They are certainly toxic. I mean I don’t disagree with what’s he’s saying, it’s just how come I get turned into a violent jerk and the Captain transforms into an authoritarian God.”

“Natural charisma,” Wu sidled up beside them.

Nicki continued to watch the Captain closely. She was mentally trying to work out how best to get the coins. He would still have the coins on him, therefore the only plan she could come up with was forcing Renard up against a wall and patting him down.

“You like what you see?” Wu asked. Nicki shot him what she hoped was a withering stare. Wu handed her a file. Kolt’s alibi had checked out and forensics had cleared him. They would have to let him go. He waited while she read it and handed it on to Hank.

“You want me to release him?”

“Go ahead. We have no reason to hold him,” Nicki waited for Wu to leave but he didn’t. “Was there something else?”

“Did the Captain tell you that Soledad Marquesa wasn’t the only lowlife we found on video at the scene of the robbery?”

“No,” Nicki shook her head and turned all her attention on the trusty sergeant.

“That guy you and Hank chased, he was at the crime scene. With his friends. And they were watching you.” Nicki, Hank and Wu all looked over at the Captain who was still surrounded by adoring reporters. “I guess he had something else on his mind.”

The Captain was staring back at them, specifically at Wu with an expression like thunder. Wu took a clear step away from Nicki. The expression on the Captain’s face eased a little.

“I’m going to go and do that thing,” Wu disappeared.

“We need to get those coins off him now,” Hank said with an increasing sense of urgency. “And then we need to drop those coins off a bridge.”

“Not a bad idea. But we can’t do it here. Too many prying eyes. And he’s not going to give them up without a fight. We needed somewhere private and quiet.”

“Garage?” Hank suggested

“My thoughts exactly. Now we just need a way to get him there.”

“Well the Captain seems to have a thing for you. And it looks like he’s about to come over,” Renard was indeed excusing himself from the group and stepping their way.

“So I play bait. I’ll meet you down there,” she told him. Then in a much louder voice. “I’m just going to grab something from my car.”

Hank stayed put and watched the Captain take a purposeful detour to follow Nicki out into the hall. As soon as he could, Hank followed.

Racing down the stairs Nicki made it into the dark space of the parking garage. Hank texted her to let her know that Renard had taken the elevator. She waited and caught her breath. She also listened, every inch of her on alert. She stood outside the closed doors watching the numbers descend until the Captain was close. Then she started walking deeper into the parking structure. She heard the elevator doors open. She heard Renard step out. She heard him pause and then follow her.

“Nicki,” he called to her. “Nicki.”

She kept walking. The further away from the elevator and the stairs they were when did this the less likely they were to be disturbed. When she didn’t stop she was aware Renard started walking faster, then she became equally aware of another set of footsteps and then another. It would have to be now or never. She turned to face Sean. Even with some distance remaining between them there was a wild and feral heat in his eyes that bore into her.

“I think we need to talk, Captain,” no sooner had the words left her mouth than the lights went out.

Her eyes adjusted quickly enough that she could see a man step out from between two cars. From the silhouette alone she could tell it was Marquesa. The other presence in the garage soon made himself known. Farley Kolt had moved up silently behind her.

“It’s him,” Kolt said before melting away onto the darkness again.

She was aware of Hank stepping out of the stairs, the door slamming behind him. Renard turned to look. Marquesa took that as his moment to strike using a police nightstick to take Renard to his knees.

“Captain,” Nicki ran towards Renard as he was knocked to the ground with force. Maquesa drew his gun and levelled it at the Captain.

“Police. Put down your gun,” Hank called out. Between him and Nicki they had Marquesa corralled but being trapped made the Spaniard desperate. Marquesa turned his weapon on them pinning Nicki and Hank between cars in a barrage of gun fire. In the running firefight Kolt ran out and dragged Renard to safety. Part of Nicki was so very grateful and yet she knew that Kolt wasn’t acting altruistically. It was foolish, brave and motivated by gold.

Finally Hank shot Marquesa. In the next moment Nicki ran to where the Spaniard had fallen. Kicking the man’s weapon away she grabbed him by his collar.

“Eighteen years ago you killed my parents. Reed and Kelly Burkhardt. Tell me what happened?”

“Please let me hold the coins one last time,” and with those words Marquesa drew his final breath.


	8. Goodnight... Sweet Dreams

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So here is where I raise the rating. We are now in explicit territory. If its not your thing then stop reading this chapter about half way through. If it is your thing.... I should warn you I've never written smut before, or posted smut before so here I am, jumping in with both metaphorical feet. Enjoy! (I hope)

Nicki was waiting for Kolt in his room.

“I was hoping you’d come back,” Nicki kept her gun levelled on him. “Put the coins on the bed.”

When he didn’t move Nicki felt the need to repeat herself. “Put the coins on the bed.”

Kolt took the coins from his pocket, and for the longest time he simply stared at them. The closer he came to letting go the more tense the atmosphere became. The a change suddenly came over Kolt. He charged her. Without thinking twice Nicki used the hand holding her gun to punch him in the beak, forcing the steinadler to drop to his knees, dropping the coins on his way down. Quickly she gathered them up.

“You’ll never find them again. Forget about them,”

“I’ve tried,”

“Try harder,”

“You don’t understand. I promised Marie I would get them back. If I get them back we can be together,” he sounded both desperate and hopeful.

“I’m sorry,” there must have been something in her voice that gave away the truth. Kolt looking at her though mournful eyes.

“She’s dead isn’t she.”

“Yes. A few months ago,” just the thought of it made Nicki’s heart ache.

“A few months,” he hung his head. His entire being seemed to crumple in on himself. Nicki knew she was looking at a broken man. Just a few months had separated him and Marie, and his successful completion of the task he’d set himself. “How?”

“Cancer,” the word was short but the meaning was plenty. “Although she was helped along by a reaper, a hexenbiest and a couple of others,”

“So they finally got her?”

“No, I shot the reaper before he did any real damage, and one had his arm ripped off by a Blutbad.”

“I meant the royals.”

“You think they were involved?” Nicki thought back to her recent conversation with Frank. It seemed both impossible and yet highly likely all at the same time.

“Look in the trailer, everything you need to know should be in there,” Farley got up off the bed. He gathered his few belongings, throwing them into the suitcase. He had so little that it took only seconds. By the time he was done the tension in the room had totally gone. Kolt took a long hard look at her.

“You’re the only Grimm in Portland.” There was no question, just a statement of fact.

“That I know of.”

“There’s a bounty out for your capture.”

“So I’ve heard,”

“That will be the royals too. Any of the seven houses. You need to be careful, and you need to be better informed. They’ll be coming for you now,” Farley headed for the door. “I’ll leave the city tonight. I’ll let them think I have the coins, it will be safer for you.”

“Why would you protect me?”

“It’s what Marie would have wanted. And it’s all I have left,”

“She’s buried at Golden Pines. Plot 1019. If you want to pay your respects before you leave,” he nodded his thanks, taking the information, but he paused.

“We should have been family you and I.” Then he was gone.

Nicki stood in the empty room letting his words sink in. The possibility of a whole other life had awoken and died within seconds within this room. Nicki found herself thinking how glad she was that Marie had known love. Her aunt had always seemed so lonely, and her end was unpleasant. Nicki had begun to fear that the same fate was all that awaited her. Kolt gave her hope. He’d also given her information.

If Kolt was right and all the answers were at the trailer then the trailer was where she needed to be. She could feel the weight of the coins burning a metaphorical hole in her pocket. On the other hand she wanted a stab at a normal life. The last few days, weeks, months had left her feeling raw, flayed, and she felt a little lost. Besides if she skipped out on drinks with Juliette and her friends she’d be metaphorically dead anyway. Heading home and delaying the trip to the trailer for a few hours wouldn’t make much of a difference.

Nicki ran up the stairs to her room. Opening her gun safe she stashed the coins inside along withher weapon. Throwing herself in the shower she freshened herself up and blow dried her hair. Everything was done in such a frenzy that it wasn’t until she was stepping into her dress that she realised that something in her room didn’t look right, or more to the point didn’t feel right. Nicki was in some ways a creature of habit. Certain things went in certain places. It made it easy for her when she was rolling out of bed half asleep in the middle of the night. However things had been moved. She was sure if it. A search had been done carefully but someone had been in her room and they had been looking for something. The bottom dropped out of Nicki’s stomach. It felt like such a violation. And she felt unsafe.

Suddenly she felt conflicted about the whole evening. If she wasn’t safe were the coins? Was Juliette? Maybe she should just pull on her jeans and head out to the trailer, consequences be damned. Then she felt something harden inside her. For once she wanted to be selfish, the coins had done enough damage, to Kolt, to Hank. Her parents. To Sean. Nicki damn well wanted a life too. One that wasn’t dictated to her by other people and their actions, or by weird supernatural crap.

Throwing on some minimal makeup and a daring lipstick she mentally reorganised her evening. Picking up her phone she texted Juliette and let her know she’d be late. Nicki was going to fit a couple of very necessary errands into the evening rather than just surrender to her room mates directive. Grabbing her best coat Nicki took one last look around the room, and double checked it was secure. It was as good as it was going to get. Leaving the house she scanned the street as she made her way to her car. Nothing suggested that she was being watched, even as she reached out with her Grimm senses. Everything was quiet and at peace.

Two stops later and she was standing on Hanks doorstep with beer and Portland’s best pizza aka his usual care package. He may have recovered from the coins but he’d managed to twist his knee in the chase in the dark parking garage. Nicki stayed long enough to grab him a fresh ice pack from the freezer and then she was gone. As she left Hank’s place she once more found herself checking the street. Once more it appeared to be just an ordinary evening. Getting into her car Nicki locked the doors just in case. One more check of the street and she carefully unscrewed the knob on top of the gear stick. Turning it upside down the key her aunt Marie had given her fell out. At this point Nicki had hidden it in several places. She figured that she needed to keep it moving until she knew more. She turned it over in her hand, her fingers tracing the rough sides of it. Putting it back Nicki reattached the knob and thanked her lousy salary for her inability to buy a better car. She then drove off. She had one more place to be before she subjected herself to the night from purgatory.

_***_

Renard was almost too tired to move. He’d done nothing since he came home except pour himself a drink and loosen his tie. After the incident with the coins, with Kolt, he’d left the precinct early. He felt hollowed out by shame and guilt. It was an unwelcome reminder that he was not as strong as he thought he was. There were weaknesses in the armour he’d spent years building up. He’d been a fool because he knew of their power and still he had been seduced by them. He’d not realised how much they had taken control of him until he was free of their influence, his thoughts and actions clearing. He could remember everything he said, everything he did but it was if he was watching himself from the outside. Thankfully there would be no blow back in his public professional life. The Chief of Police had been nothing but pleased that Renard had embraced the anti-corruption crack down and become the poster boy for the task force.

What concerned him the most was that the news of Soledad Marquesa’s death would bring people into the city looking for the coins. It would include whoever Eric sent, because he would send someone. So would the other families. This was going to get a lot worse before it got better. He could only hope that Farley Kolt had gone far, far away and Sean Renard would be only too happy to send anyone who came looking in Kolt’s direction. It was one more complication he didn’t need. He had to secure his own network, and he had to make sure that the key and the Grimm stayed out of his brothers clutches.

And then there was the issue of the Grimm. His behaviour towards Nicki had been less than exemplary, and it had revealed more than he was comfortable with. If the coins had not been taken from him when they were he probably would’ve revealed everything to her, including his true nature, his bloodline, even his role in her aunts death. He could have lost her even as he was laying bare how much he wanted her. He could hopefully sweep it away under the explanation of temporary insanity due to toxic gold, but he’d been left with a yearning for her that his body didn’t seem able to ignore. As if his thoughts had conjured her, suddenly the very woman he’d been thinking of appeared at his front door.

It seemed a risk to disturb the Captain at home and as she rung the door bell Nicki wasn’t sure if she would get an answer. She was doubtful that she even wanted an answer. She had been second guessing herself ever since she’d come up with the hard brained scheme. Sick to death of her own drama Nicki told the voices in her own head to shut up and cut it out. All she was doing was delivering a care package to a colleague, something she’d done this many times before. The Captain was one of the team after all. The problem was that every explanation sounded forced, and every real reason she had for being on his doorstep was selfish. She rang the doorbell once more and gave herself a minute before she abandoned the package on the doorstep and left for her evening. As the time ticked away she felt increasingly foolish. She was surprised when the door suddenly opened.

“Nicki?”

“I was just passing and I thought I would drop this off. Sir.” She congratulated herself on the sir. Well done. Keep it professional she told herself. She was worried that she might have woken him up, his voice having that crunchy, worn quality to it. He was also still in his dress uniform, jacket open, tie loose, and the top button of the shirt undone. It made him appear rakish. And hot, very very hot her traitorous mind and body acknowledged.

“A famous Burkhardt care package,” he smiled, just a little. He stepped back, opening the door a little wider indicating that she should step in. Sean knew full well that by inviting her in he was courting danger. She offered up the bag to him, which he took from her slowly, their hands brushing. She was surprised to find how warm his skin felt beneath her touch.

“I’m also returning that sweater I borrowed. It’s been cleaned,” she hoped her blush didn’t show. She’d had to clean it after she defiled it in a most inappropriate way.

“So what can I expect?”

“You want me to spoil the surprise?

“I guess not. Can I offer you a cup of coffee. It may not be as good as Portland’s finest but I can try,”

“I’d love to but I’m meeting some friends at Caprice for a drink,”

“That explains the dress,”

Nicki looked down to see that the belt on her coat had come loose. Nicki forced herself not to touch the dress. Its demure V-neck and long sleeves did nothing to hide how short it was. Nicki had felt daring when she bought it but now she just felt overwhelmed by his scrutiny.

“My housemate Juliette gave me a very long and detailed lecture about what I could and couldn’t wear this evening. Not my usual style. I certainly won’t be wearing this around the precinct.”

“Probably not a good idea,” Sean would be happy if she never wore that dress for anyone but him ever again.

“Anyway, I hope you’re ok. I’m guessing the coins must be toxic. It’s a shame we didn’t get them back from Kolt or we could test them.” Nicki forced herself to tell the lie. She would accept Kolt’s offer and uphold the fiction that they were still with him. “Hank told me what it was like after handling the coins. It sounds intense.”

“Intense is one way to put it. Not how I wanted to end my day,”

They were drifting closer to the door. She would be leaving soon.

“If it makes you feel any better sir, everyone thought you looked very handsome in your dress uniform. I believe the phrase ‘panty wettingly hot’ was used, but that was Wu, so it may not count.”

Sean couldn’t help the laugh that exploded from him. “I think I may need to get Wu tested.”

“Just don’t tell him I was the one who told you.”

“My lips are sealed.”

For a moment she found herself staring at his mouth. The next he seemed to be kissing her, the most tentative of touches becoming bolder as she didn’t deny him, her fingers threading through his short hair, drawing him closer. The intimate touch was a blanket of warmth as his strong mouth mated with her own. Convinced she would pull away, and happy that she didn’t, his brain seemed to short out. Sean considered that he should put a stop to this but his defences were down, and for once he wanted to be a weak man, and pursue what he wanted, rather than hold back for all of the hundreds of reasons that common sense and caution dictated.

His hand slid around her neck as his body crowded her into the solid door behind, holding her in place beneath the onslaught of his physical need. Nicki arched into his touch, her body seeking the solid warmth of his, the brass buttons on his open jacket pressing into her creating pinpricks of sensation. Gasping for air, one kiss grew into another, and another. As close as they were it never seemed close enough, their hands clutching at each other, their bodies colliding. Pulling his shirt from his pants, she felt warm skin where her hands found his naked flesh. She needed more of him, and she would take it inch by inch. His hand insinuated itself into her hair, pulling her head back and exposing her throat to him. She should have felt vulnerable, but she felt nothing but power as his mouth wandered across her skin. Kiss after kiss, he laid a trail along her jaw, each touch stoking the throbbing need that grew with the wetness between her thighs.

“Tell me you want this?” Sean drew away long enough to look into her eyes. Lust hazed, she stared back.

“I want you.” The words were the ignition for the renewed torrent of kisses.

Her hand relinquished its exploration beneath his shirt to move inexorably downwards to the rock hard erection caged behind the zipper of his pants. Sean bared his teeth, biting into the taught flesh of her neck, not hard enough to break skin but certainly hard enough to leave a mark. He was claiming her, making her his. Her hand caressed him again, this time slipping through the zipper she’d opened while he was distracted.

“Fuck,” he growled the expletive into her ear and felt the shivering thrill of response that ran through her. She caressed him again.

“Fuck,” he said again.

“Yes. Fuck me,” her questing hand found his bare flesh. She let slip a whimper of need. Her small hand wrapping itself around his rock hard cock, feeling the size and weight and heat of him. She took power from the evidence he wanted her. She could feel how aroused he was. Offering up exquisite pressure Nicki traced the head of his cock with her thumb, gathering the pre-cum, and raising it to her mouth so she could taste him. His pupils blew wide as she sucked her thumb clean. She wanted his cock in her mouth but she wanted something else more. Her hand returned to his cock, teasing him, and inciting him to action.

“Please,” she gasped. “Fuck me”

It felt like he was on fire from within. He could feel himself racing toward the edge, but it was too soon. Forcing her hand away from him he lifted her up, his hips finding themselves in the cradle of her parted thighs. Nicki wrapped her legs around him, her arms around his shoulders as she once more sought to conquer his mouth. He could feel the banked power within her, that part of her that she was trying to hide, even as desperate as she was to let go. He understood it, Sean too felt the need to hold himself in check, while chasing release.

Finding himself with a double handful of Nicki Burkhardt he let his hand wander over the bare skin of her thighs and ass. His fingers toying with the edges of her panties, pushing her tiny dress aside to expose her to his gaze and conquering hands.

“Please,” she begged into his mouth, “Please touch me.”

Insinuating his fingers beneath the edge of her panties he found her swollen with arousal. Sean pressed one and then another finger deep inside her, fucking her slow and deep as Nicki ground herself against his palm. Sean felt his ‘biest rise to the surface but he forced it to remain in check, forced it to remain hidden. Now was not the time to reveal himself to Nicki; he wanted pleasure, for both of them, not a knife to the gut and a beheading. She gasped, the gasp turning to a guttural moan as his fingers found the sensitive flesh of her clit, rubbing across it. Drawing little circles to draw gasps and moans from Nicki. Nicki’s head rolled back exposing her throat to him once more and Sean couldn’t resist the urge to mark her again.

His free hand buried itself in her hair again. She became held in place by him and the door, forced to hold on or fall, able to do nothing but accept the pleasure he gave her.

“Please,” she begged. She felt she was losing her mind, she couldn’t hold any thought other than how much she wanted the man pressed up against her. “Please. Sean, I need..”

“Tell me,” Sean demanded, his fingers pulsing within her, making her gasp. Merciless in their application of pleasure. “I can feel how much you want. So hot, so wet.”

“Please. I need you Sean, I need to cum,” her voice cracked with the urgent demand, even as her body chased the touch of his skilled fingers within her, a touch that lit her up.

“Let go. You can let go Nicki. I promise I’ll catch you when you fall,”

“I can’t,”

“You can,” His voice, like his fingers, became all the more insistent.

“I can’t. I want you. I want to feel you inside me,”

“There’s no reason you can’t have both. Let me give you both,” ruthlessly Sean applied touch after touch until she broke apart. Nicki struggled to catch her breath, words dying on her lips for lack of air as her body tensed and then exploded in pleasure. She arched back, her whole body shaking under the avalanche of sensation.

Burying his face in her neck he ripped her panties from her, the ‘biest escaping for just an exquisite moment. The show of strength made her gasp aloud. Even as she fought to catch her breath Sean slowly pushed his way into her body, filling her up and taking her apart as she had never known before. Having denied himself as long as he had he took a moment to savour the heat of her. Nicki’s entire world shrank to the feeling of Sean inside her, filling her up. It had been so long, and yet it had never been like this. Sean Renard was a well endowed man of exquisite proportion. A flutter of her hips and her body clenched around his, pulling him in deeper. She wanted to say something, to beg, but she had been rendered wordless.

“You feel so good,” Sean said as he withdrew until only the flared head of his cock still lay inside her. With sudden force he returned, hard and deep, feeling bereft until he was once again seated deep within her. Over and over their bodies met, the divinely obscene pounding of flesh on flesh, and ragged breathing growing out the broken words and pleading, as they clung together, seeking the release they both needed. Sean could feel how close she was but so was he. He willed himself to hold back his climax, holding on until Nicki had found hers, her breathless silent scream, and the tightening of her body around his pulled him over the edge after her.

As she came back to reality Nicki found herself back on her own two feet but still using the door for support. Her legs were shaking, literally shaking, but she forced herself to stand upright. Then came the crashing realisation of what she had just done. She dare not look at Sean as she straightened her clothes. Carefully she pulled the coat that she had never taken off around her and fastened it, hiding the dress that she was going to hold at least partly responsible for this debacle from view. She had just fucked her captain up against the front door of his home while they were both fully dressed, after a day that had been a total shit show. It was... hot, mind blowing, dangerous, irresponsible. All of the above. She could neither fully comprehend it, nor understand how it happened but she knew she had never felt both simultaneously exhausted and exhilarated. And she was thoroughly satisfied. Finally Nicki gathered all of her courage and looked at him.

“Nicki,” Sean lounged against the wall and damn him, but it looked like he didn’t even have a hair out of place. He had waited as she had gathered herself, putting herself back together, when all he wanted to do was take her upstairs and peel away those remaining layers, so that he could take her apart again.

“No regrets,” she said quickly. If he was sorry she certainly didn’t want to hear it. It was the most honest thing that had happened since she’d become a Grimm. “No regrets.”

Sean nodded his agreement. He was sorry, but only for that little bit of fear he saw in her eyes before she had so forcefully pushed it away. It was a fear he understood. It was a fear he felt.

“I should go.” With those few words she was gone, the door closing behind her.

Sean flicked the lock closed. He lingered a while, the room smelled of sex, of him and her. He drew in a long breath committing it to memory. It had been delicious and unexpected. Whatever the coins had taken from him, she had given it back to him and more. Finally he let his ‘biest out, just for a moment, it demanded the roar of victory it felt at enjoying such power that had been found in the Grimm. His ‘biest purred with pleasure. Straightening up Sean started to wander back into the main room when his gaze fell on something. Scooping it up he found that it was that small scrap of black fabric that had been her panties. Lace edged, at once both demure and racy. He fingered the lace, remembering again how she had felt under his touch. They were utterly useless now. His hand hovered above the waste bin, the scrap of fabric wrapping across his fingers but he couldn’t quite make himself let go. With a sigh he slipped the torn scrap into his pocket in an oddly sentimental gesture. He just wasn’t ready to let go.


	9. Preparing for War

Nicki usually had a sense of excitement when returning to work from her 48 hours of downtime.Today though everything just felt different.

“Thank god you’re back,” Wu literally ran into her in the doorway of the squad room.

“What’s going on?” Nicki said as she stepped aside to let him pass.

“Don’t ask me. It must be Christmas, or the full moon, because the whole city’s gone crazy,” the last words were shouted as Wu disappeared down the corridor brandishing files and a broken ukulele as if either would explain everything.

Wu was right. It did look like the world had gone crazy. The room was filled with noise and people and attitude as detectives took statements and officers shuffled perps and victims around. If so many criminals were up here it meant the cells were full. Nicki took a few steps into the room and for a moment she was thrown back to that moment when her Grimm powers first manifested. More than one of the current arrests showed Nicki their true faces, and not by accident. They seemed to be declaring themselves, or challenging her. However, given the lack of hysteria she had to guess that she was still the only one who could see them for what they really were. The humans remained clueless, which was probably a good thing.

She reminded herself to just focus on the job. What didn’t help was the fact that she’d be seeing the Captain for the first time since ‘that night’. She tried to tell herself that it didn’t matter but the throb of desire between her thighs told her otherwise. Thankfully the Captain seemed to be occupied so Nicki pretended not to ignore him and pushed her way through the crowd to her desk.

She sank into her chair. As she booted up her computer a large cup of coffee descended into her view. Hank had arrived.

“You’re a life saver,” she said as her partner sat down.

Nicki caught Hank looking towards Renard’s office. The Captain was standing behind his desk, talking directly to the assistant DA Everett Jones, with the mayor and the chief of police providing an audience while the two younger men faced each other down. It looked like a serious conversation for serious men. Jones was clearly angry about something, and when he caught sight of Nicki and he gave her the stink eye, she could guess what. He was pissed that she hadn’t hauled Mrs Ross in for questioning. He was probably even more pissed that she’d disproved his pet theory; Mrs Ross hadn’t run off with the money her husband stole. And as things stood, that was about the only progress they’d made on the Ross case. For a man who had tried to do as little as possible for the case Everett Jones now seemed to care an awful lot about it. For a moment Renard allowed the DA to thunder away at him while he simply straightened his tie and looked stoic and a little bored.

“You look like hell,” Hank said as he got ready to grab a file and a slice of the crazy.

“Well aren’t you a sweet talker,” her sarcasm knew no bounds.

“You know the point of having a weekend is that you come back relaxed and refreshed. Handsome, like me.”

“Have you looked in a mirror?”

“Have you? Because you look like shit,”

“I thought I looked like hell,” Nicki hoped Hank would back down but clearly he wasn’t going to. “I’m just tired,”

“Really. So that little dress worked,” His attitude totally changed and he shot her a shit eating grin. “It got you a little something something.”

“It’s nothing like that.” Or at least it wasn’t like that after she left the Captain. “I didn’t even meet Juliette in the end.”

Nicki was about to squash any remaining misconceptions Hank had when the words died in her throat. An email from Rheinbeck New York had arrived. She didn’t even hear what Hank was saying over the sudden ringing in her ears. Clicking on the email she opened the attachment and scanned the information. She then scanned it again because she hadn’t absorbed a single word.

Hank grabbed her chair and forced her to look at him. “I said what is it? You’ve gone as white as a sheet.”

“Ok,” Nicki sighed. Looking away for a moment to gather herself she eventually looked back up into his face. “There was too much going on after the coins and Kolt and Marquesa, but it turns out that Marquesa was one of the men responsible for my parents death. Which turns out not to have been an accident. They were murdered. My parents were murdered and I’ve just found out that the case got reopened several years ago apparently.”

“And this is the case file,” Hank rolled her and her chair to one side so that he could take a closer look. “And you’ve been dealing with this all weekend. You could have called me. You could have talked to me when you brought me pizza.”

Bless him Nicki thought, but Hank actually looked a little hurt.

“I needed some time to get me head around it. I spent the weekend digging through some of my aunts old stuff to see if there was anything there that could give me something.”

It wasn’t far from the truth. She had spent her 48 at the trailer, once she’d moved it again, going through everything with a forensic intent. She needed to know if Kolt was right, if everything she needed was here. What she’d found was far more than she expected, yet she’d come away with so many new questions that she didn’t have answers to. Nicki had even found information on her own family she’d been unaware of, making the biggest question of all why her Grimm powers hadn’t manifested until now. Every one of her Grimm ancestors had been teenagers, or even children, when they gained their powers. So why the hell was she a 29 year old starter Grimm. Something about the whole situation just didn’t feel right.

The only positive thing about her weekend activity was that it had been a brief, if not always successful, distraction from the memories of Sean Renard. The very thought of him seemed to have been burned into her body, and the sex had been more like an out of body experience, one which Nicki was afraid may have ruined her for any other man.

Nicki turned back to the email and clicked on the additional attachments that came with the file. Photographs of the men including Marquesa filled the screen. And then there was the fourth man.

“Kimura.”

Nicki found herself focussing on the face of a man she’d never met but which she already had a violent hatred of. This was one of four men who had turned her life upside down, and taken her parents from her.

“That’s quite the rap sheet,” Hank was reading the rap sheet. “Have you talked to the Captain about this?”

“We’re not supposed to misappropriate police resources for personal gain. It’s in the handbook you’ve never read,” Nicki said, thinking that she’d broken enough rules for the moment.

“He wouldn’t mind. And it's technically an open case, even if it is from New York.”

Nicki found herself glancing towards the Captain’s office, seeking him out. The conversation between Renard and the DA had become heated. The raised voices making the windows of Renard’s office rattle as neither man backed down. Just as Nicki was about to look away she caught Renard’s eye, and a flare of a memory seemed to pass between them.

“That does not look good. Wonder what they’re talking about.” Hank said just as Wu arrived at their desk breaking the eye contact between Nicki and Sean. Wu placed a pile of files on the desk.

“Like I would know. Alright, of course I know. It’s the Ross case,” Wu said as he rested on the edge of Nicki’s desk and blatantly stared into Renard’s office. “Not that there’s much to talk about with no viable leads in either the original investigation or his murder.”

“You don’t need to remind us,” Nicki felt guilty that she couldn’t do more.

“But it’s so much fun when I do,” Wu said handing Hank a slip of paper with an address on it. “And now we have a new body. Looks like a shop owner was shot during an attempted robbery”.

“You can drive,” Hank handed Nicki the paper. She jumped to her feet.

“I know this place,” Nicki bolted for the door and ran out of there.

***

Nicki stayed at the Tea and Spice shop long after the coroner had come to pick up the body. When Wu had given them the case she’d feared the worst but to have it confirmed was heartbreaking. It made her incredibly sad to see Freddie dead on the floor of his own shop. They had worked the scene, and gathered what evidence they could. Nicki and Hank had even spoken to the local shop keepers but they were all predictably human and knew nothing. Eventually Hank had gone back to the precinct to look into possible suspects, and do background. Nicki couldn’t bring herself to tell him that he probably wouldn’t find much on Freddie Calvert, who paid his taxes and looked respectable, and who had many friends but little family. Freddie had mentioned his sister Rosalee a couple of times and it had been a simple thing to find her number in his phone. It had been a short and difficult call. Nicki hated breaking bad news, especially when she couldn’t do it face to face. However they would meet in person soon enough as Rosalee Calvert was on her way to Portland and would be arriving imminently. That was one reason for Nicki to be still at the shop.

The other of course was less official. For a few hours the shop had been a hive of activity as evidence was photographed and collected by the crime scene techs. Nicki had filled her time working along side them going through Freddie’s records searching for clues. She needed to get a better sense of what Freddie had been doing. While she knew that Hank would find very little in the human world, there was plenty that could have contributed to Freddie’s demise in the Wesen one. Nicki wanted to see if there was any signs that the Geiers had been involved, but nothing about the scene made her think this was retribution. There was no indication at all as to why this had happened but there had to be a reason. There was always a reason.

Nicki turned over all the possibilities in her mind waiting for help and inspiration. She felt she could focus better now that she was now alone. Everyone else had packed up as there was nothing else to do and no more evidence to find. There was only Franco sitting outside in his car.

A shadow fell over the glass door. Then there was a knock.

“Nicki. It’s me.”

Letting Monroe in Nicki waved to Franco to confirm she was ok. She’d let the officer know that she was expecting a C.I. just so it didn’t raise eyebrows. Designating Monroe as a confidential informant was the best way Nicki had come up with to explain his frequent involvement in cases. The upside was that she could also pay him from time to time which made her feel less like she was taking advantage of her friend.

“I smell blood,” he said as she locked the door behind him. He was keyed up on adrenaline. He may not have known Freddie well but he was a good guy and didn’t deserve to be killed. Anyway, Monroe always took any attack on a wesen very personally. “I’m also getting despair. Anger.”

“You can smell all that?”

“I’m getting a tonne of things. You’re going to have to give me a minute to sift through it.” Nicki stood back and let Monroe do his thing.

“Take all the time you need. They shot Freddie here. He managed to set off the alarm. We think he tried to stop them as they left but, you know, guns win every time. Freddie did manage to bite a chunk out of one of them though. Piece of leg probably.”

“Shame he didn’t rip their throats out,” the red tinge in his eyes glowed fiercely. Monroe focused on the smells by the door. It was the best place to work out how many layers of people and wesen he was dealing with. “I think I’ve got them. They came in through the front, and they moved inside quickly.”

Monroe got down on all fours and sniffed the floor. Within seconds he was back up on his feet.

“Then they headed to the basement.”

Monroe seemed to hold back and wait, silently asking her if it was ok to go down there.

“CSI have cleared this. They’ve got everything they need.” Nicki waved her friend off, and she could hear him jogging down the wooden steps into the basement. She was about to follow when there was another knock at the door. Nicki recognised the young woman immediately from the picture that Freddie had in the back room. This was Rosalee Calvert. Quickly Nicki let her in.

“Your partner, Detective Griffin, told me I would find you here.”

“I’m sorry you had to come down in such terrible circumstances.”

“Was this where he died?” her brusk manner masked her obvious grief. Before Nicki could answer she watched Rosalee drop to her knees beside the blood stain on the carpet. If she didn’t know better she would think the woman was just over come with grief, but Nicki did know better. It was the same movement that Monroe had made only minutes before. When the woman woged Nicki got the confirmation needed. Rosalee Calvert was a Fuchsbau just like her brother. Unfortunately Rosalee chose that moment to look at Nicki. The young woman scrambled to her feet and backed away.

“You’re a Grimm.”

“I didn’t hurt your brother. And I’m not going to hurt you.” Despite Nicki’s reassurances the other woman looked less than convinced. Nicki kept her distance in the hope that might calm the situation. “Did your brother tell you that he was involved with Geiers?”

“Yes,” Rosalee continued to move backwards away from Nicki. “Is that who did this?”

“I thought so but I can’t see any sign of it.”

“You know he didn’t want to work with them. They made him.”

“I do know that. That was why I helped Freddie break the connection.”

“That was you? He told me he had help.” Rosalee might have relaxed just a little bit if Monroe hadn’t chosen that moment to knock something over in the basement. “What was that?”

“It’s ok. I asked a friend, an associate, to come and look things over. He also knew Freddie,” the sound of Monroe running up the stairs almost drowned out her words. Rosalee looked like she might bolt at any moment. Monroe burst through the basement door.

“Woah,” he stopped as soon as he saw Rosalee.

“Monroe. This is Miss Calvert. Miss Calvert, this is Monroe.”

“I was sorry to hear about your brother,” Monroe held out his hand.

“You knew my brother?” She said as she ignored the offered hand and woged instead. Rosalee was challenging him. Carefully Monroe woged showing her his true face. Curiosity satisfied, they backed down together. A silent understanding had been reached.

“What did you find?” Nicki asked keen to move this on and keep on track.

“Skalengecks. Two of them to be precise, and they seem to have been looking for this,” Monroe held up a small bottle with some kind of vivid yellow powder in it.

“Jay,” Rosalee backed away from it.

“What’s Jay?”

“It’s derived from a mould. Lethal to most of humanity but it gives us, wesen us, a high.” Monroe explained.

“It’s not illegal,” Rosalee was suddenly defensive.

“Doesn’t mean its not bad for us,” Monroe placed the bottle on the counter.

“I know that,” once more Rosalee was defensive.

There was something in her voice and the way she was looking at the mould that gave Nicki a very clear picture of the situation. Quickly Nicki scooped up the bottle, bagged it and put it out of sight in her pocket.

“So I’m looking for wesen drug addicts. Which means they’re going to be unpredictable when we do find them.”

“You’ll need to find a dealer,” Rosalee offered.

“You know something about this,” Nicki stated. Rosalee seemed to be very aware that both she and Monroe were watching her very closely. “I know we’ve just met and you’ve got no reason to, but you can trust me.”

“Really. You can. Nicki’s done a lot for the wesen in this town,” there was lack of judgement in Monroe’s voice, and the smile he offered Rosalee was so sweet. He was smitten. Nicki saw a side to her friend that she hadn’t seen before.

“I know you need to find a dealer because I was hooked for seven years. Freddie helped me get clean. I went to Seattle for a new start,” with the confession she seemed to unburden herself and finally relax. “I can ask around.”

“I’ll do it,” Monroe offered quickly.

“I agree. Let’s not risk your sobriety.” It was the least they could do given the mess Rosalee was walking into. “We’re also running finger prints and DNA so it could be that we get a lead through more conventional means. It would be nice to have something that can stand up in court.”

“I don’t understand,” Rosalee looked genuinely perplexed.

“Yeah. It’s kind of complicated. She’s not the usual kind of Grimm.” Monroe said by way of explanation. “The law first. Slash and bash second.”

“I should go. If you think of anything, or if you need anything, please call,” Nicki held out her card and couldn’t help but smile when Rosalee took it. She moved towards the door and Monroe followed. Just as suddenly Monroe stopped.

“Hang on,” he said as he sniffed the air. Monroe was distracted, turning on the spot, scenting the air. “I’m getting a whiff of something else here.”

Monroe moved around, moving into the back room for the first time. Nicki could tell the moment that Rosalee picked up the scent too, following Monroe’s path.

“Hundjager,” they said together.

“Don’t they traditionally work with the Verrat?”

“Look whose been hitting the books,” Monroe sounded so proud Nicki. He was happy that she was taking her responsibilities seriously and making her own mind up about the wesen world rather than believing the misinformation that had turned her aunt and mother into terrors.

“And the Verrat work for the royal families,” the reminder from Rosalee was a timely one.

“Can you tell when the hundjager was here?” Nicki asked Monroe.

“Very recently. The smell is subtle but very particular. About the same time as the skalengecks. But he came in through the back door.”

“So he didn’t want to be seen,” Nicki said making a mental note to send Wu out to expand the area for gathering evidence and security tapes.

“What would a Hundjager be doing with two skalengeck junkies?” Rosalee sounded baffled. “She’s right. They would never work together.” Monroe was still sniffing around.

“Maybe not together. But maybe the Hundjager used the junkies as cover. All he’d have to do is tell them where they could score and need would drive the rest. It would hide whatever he was doing here.” Nicki suggested, inspired by information she’d found in the books. She turned to Rosalee once more. “Why would the Verrat be interested in your brother?”

“I don’t know.”

The cool defiance in Rosalee’s voice made it clear that she did, but that it was a secret she would never willingly give up. Nicki sighed. There was nothing more she could do for know, except perhaps her job. It looked like it would be dinner at her desk.

“If you ever want to change that answer you know where you can find me. Until then, you need to take care.”

***

It had been a long day and Sean wanted nothing more than to have a shower, have something to eat, and drink just enough to dampen the need he had for Nicki Burkhardt. After two days of needing to see her he’d got nothing more than a single glance before a case pulled her away. He wanted to forget for a few hours what it felt like to come apart inside her, or that her life was in danger again now that, according to his contact in Vienna, the family had sent yet another assassin to take care of her. Instead he found an unfriendly stranger in his house pointing a gun at him. Thankfully, because he never went anywhere unarmed, Sean Renard had a gun of his own.

He was surprised by the strength of the anger that welled up inside him. The Verrat had made their way into his home, a place that very few of his acquaintances were allowed to enter. He’d gone to a lot of trouble, and spent a lot of money, to ensure he had the tightest security. Clearly it was not tight enough. It was further evidence, if any were needed, that he and his interests were being undermined from within. There was no way even a member of the Verrat could get in here without some help. Suddenly, identifying the traitor became so much easier.

“My dear captain, if I really wanted to kill you you’d be dead already.” The thick German accent only seemed to underscore the man’s military bearing. He lowered the gun but didn’t holster it, letting it remain in his hand as a clear and present threat. “Let me introduce myself. My name is Edgar Waltz.”

“What exactly does my brother wants this time?” Sean wandered over to pour himself a drink while his own weapon remained in his hand.

“What’s he’s always wanted. The key, the coins, the Grimm. Your canton.”

“My life?”

“Your brother is not the only person who wants you dead, but if you want to stay alive, I suggest you do as he asks.”

“Tell me, when did the Verrat become my brothers errand boys?”  
“Don’t be fooled. We have our own agenda. We are looking for Ian Harmon. He is a leader in the resistance. One of the few still alive.” While Waltz seemed to take pride in his declaration, Sean took it as confirmation that the Verrat were indeed responsible for the recent loss of certain foreign contacts. Meisner would be very interested to hear that too. “We know Ian Harmon is on his way to the city. Just as we know that the resistance is growing stronger here. Your help will go some way to reassuring us all that you are serious about dealing with the issue. The status quo is best for all concerned. Don’t you agree?”

The status quo could go to hell as far as Sean was concerned given that the status quo would have seen both him and his mother dead along time ago.

“The Verrat do not make decisions for me,” Sean already needed another drink.

“The high command would not be happy with that,” Waltz moved closer. “Your brother encourages you to think of this as a demonstration of loyalty.”

“Is there anything else?”

“As I said, the Verrat have business of their own in the city. Do not get in our way Captain. The consequences for you will be dire if you do. I hope your latin is as good as your German. Si vis pacem, para bellum.” Waltz finally holstered his weapon. “I’ll let myself out.”

Sean watched the man leave. Only once he was alone did he put his gun aside. He turned to look out of the window and watched at Waltz left the building, walking off alone into the night. A hundjager had just threatened him in his own home. The situation had just got a whole lot more serious.

“Si vis pacem, para bellum.” He repeated the words to himself. “If you seek peace, prepare for war.”

War it would be then.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First off, a slightly more serious note than usual. Sorry there was no update last week. Like a lot of people last week kicked my ass. We were swamped at work making sure everyone can work from home in the face of the corona virus restrictions here in the UK. I also needed to make sure that my parents in the UK and USA had everything they need.  
> Secondly, I had hoped to post more chapters today but same reasons apply. I do however hope to be posting more in the next few days/weeks etc  
> And finally... thanks as always for the hits and the bookmarks and kudos etc I can't adequately express how much I appreciate it. And finally finally.... I hope that you and your families, friends etc stay safe and stay well. *correctly spaced socially distanced virtual hugs*


	10. Prelude to a Grimm-pocalypse

Sheer exhaustion had forced Nicki into a deep sleep so she was as surprised as anyone when she suddenly awoke in the middle of the night and sat bolt upright in bed.

“Of course. Why didn’t I see it before.”

Her phone told her it was a little after 3am but she still threw back the covers and got up. Wincing as her feet hit the cold floor within minutes she was showered, dressed and creeping down the stairs as quietly as she could. The last thing she needed was to wake Juliette who still hadn’t forgiven her for ducking out on drinks. Not only was she still not speaking to Nicki but she was slamming doors and huffing loudly whenever they were both home. Nicki had apologised, many times, but still Juliette seemed to want to punish her, so Nicki was letting it go and hoped that either Juliette got over it, or she found a new place to live. Soon.

Nicki pulled her boots on at the door and let herself out, taking care to lock up again after herself. The morning was icy cold and there was a promise fo snow in the air. So focused on what was going on inside her head she made it all the way to her car door before she realised she wasn’t alone. Fisting her keys she spun around to face her stalker only to find herself pinned to the side of her car. Gasping with surprise Nicki had expected to see one of the three men who’d been following her in search of Mrs Ross, but instead she was looking into the snarling snout and furred face of a hundjager. The dog-like wesen leaned in close and smelled the air round her, coming so close that she could feel his rancid breath on her face.

“Grimm,” the human voice was deep and gravelled with a dog like growl.

“Asshole,” Nicki forced her fist that clutched the keys forward with as much force as she could manage. It was enough to dislodge him and put a little space between them.

Taking another swing her fist and keys collided with his jaw. Snarling, he came at her, his jaws snapping, but Nicki held her ground and let him come. He was strong but then so was she. She barely shifted as he made contact with her. He seemed surprised that he couldn’t easily overwhelm her despite despite his greater weight and size. It was a short and bloody encounter, all flailing fists and brute force, the hundjagers teeth grazing her throat and drawing blood, before Nicki managed to pin him to the ground and handcuff her assailant. Putting a knee to his chest she kept him pinned as she finally reached for her gun and put it to his forehead.

“Are you here to collect me? To collect the bounty?” She asked. The hundjager snapped and growled at her. Nicki rapped him on his doggy nose with the muzzle of her gun. “Manners please.”

“Kill me. I’m not afraid to die.”

“While I’m starting to think that would be a good idea, I’m not going to kill you. I need you to take a message back to your friends. And to the royal you’re working for. Are you listening?” She tapped him on the forehead this time. “Tell your friends, and whoever decided to take this bounty out on me, to stop. I don’t take kindly to someone messing about with my life, my liberty or my freedom. This stops. Right Now.”

“Or what?”

“I’ll leave that to your imagination, but it will involve death, destruction, the end of the world as you know it. The Grimm-pocalypse.” Nicki leaned in close. “Think you can tell them that?”

“Yes.” He spat and snarled the word at her.

“Excellent.” With a single punch she knocked him out.

Dragging him into the bushes Nicki took a photo of his now unconscious and un-woged face. She’d have a chance to id him once she was at her desk, which was exactly where she was going to go. She had work to do and nothing, not a few new scratches, bruises and a little shed blood, was going to distract her from doing her job.

***

Nothing about Renard’s demeanour suggested that this was anything other than just another busy morning in Portland, or that this was anything than just another coffee shop. Blending in with the ebb and flow of customers Sean and Meisner seemed to arrive together by accident, emerging from the crowd and melting away into the background without saying a word, letting the citizens of the city provide cover.

“This is the work I’ve done so far.” Meisner slid a small pen drive across the table, handing it to Sean as if it was invisible.”Griffin is clean, and Wu too, although he’s an odd one. And they are excellent allies of the Grimm. Very protective. The full list of people I’ve cleared is on the drive. There’s also a few you need to distance yourself from.”

“Have you identified Eric’s contact?”

“Almost,” Meisner sipped his coffee. “It might be more complicated than you think. I need to make sure. And to gather proof. Another day and I’ll have a name for you.”

“Thank you,” Sean didn’t say it often but in this case he meant it.

“You’re looking well.”

“Is there any reason I shouldn’t?”

“You must be aware that there are things happening in the city.” Meisner had seen a lot in just a few days. This would be a fruitful trip for the resistance, in more ways than one.

“I assume you mean the Hundjagers the family sent. I’ve met one.” Renard was still smarting that a member of the Verrat had violated his home.

Meisner leaned in close, every line on his face etched in seriousness. “Eric may be the predictable danger but both you and the Grimm have more to worry about.”

“Tell me.”

“You’ll find two bodies showing up in your morgue soon. I made sure to dump them where they would fall under your jurisdiction. They were two of the men watching and following the Grimm.”

“Let me guess, you found them when you were also watching the Grimm.”

“It was the fastest way to find them. When I finally caught up to them it was outside your house,” Meisner sipped his coffee. He let the unasked questions hang in the air. “The night when you lost the coins of Zakynthos.”

“I assume the men were reluctant to cooperate with you.” Sean sipped his coffee. He wasn’t about to discuss either the coins, the aftermath, or that night with Meisner. And he certainly wasn’t going to share what he had Nicki had done behind his closed front door. Sean was careful to keep his voice low. “Did you get anything from them before you put them in the morgue?”

“They are working for the royals.”

“Eric must be more desperate than I thought to send so many operatives into my city at once.”

“Not Eric. They were working for another of the royal families. Which one they wouldn’t say,” and Meisner had tried very hard to find out. A lot of blood had been shed in his quest for knowledge. Thankfully very little was his.

Sean was intrigued by this new piece of information. “So. The alliance is far from strong. I wonder if Eric knows. Clearly someone isn’t as enthusiastic about handing my brother all the power as they seem.”

“They know that whoever holds the Grimm, and her key, holds the power. The men had instructions to abduct her, discretely. It’s the only reason they hadn’t acted. There were to be no witnesses. I think, nothing to suggest that it might have royal involvement.”

“So you killed two. That means one is still out there,” the remaining threat to Nicki made Sean uneasy.

“I am not done looking,” Meisner sat back and observed Sean who was lost in thought behind a dark and vicious expression. “I have to say Sean, the more I know about the Grimm, the more I understand why you are so keen to have her. She is nothing like we’ve seen before. She is a revolutionary.”

“Thinking of recruiting her to your cause?”

“There is no doubt she would be useful. But we’re not about to kidnap her. Unless of course the royals get too close. Or unless you betray us. Then we will happily separate you from the Grimm and educate her about who you really are and what you’re capable of.”

Sean soothed his ‘biest as its hackles rose. Martin Meisner might be a friend, and he might be useful, but there were lines and he had just crossed one of them. Meisner smiled at his some time friend and ally.

“Don’t worry. For now my interest is purely professional but it would be a mistake to think that Nicki Burkhardt could be anyone’s tool or weapon. She would never allow herself to be used in such a way. Even by you.”

“I would never use her.”

“Tell me that again when she knows who you really are.” Meisner’s smile was almost demonic. “Either way, I look forward to the day when your Grimm finally tears down the royals.”

“We can’t afford to be complacent. Nothing is certain. The royals, especially my brother, have it in them to break or kill anyone. And if they cannot draw her over to their side they may decide that she is better of dead. You know that better than most.”

“I do. Which is why Nicki Burkhardt, progressive Grimm, is worth protecting. I’ll be in touch, and soon” Meisner left and Sean followed him out of the door.

He had one more task to do before he started his day at the precinct. A test of loyalty, or of guilt, that would flush out and identify the traitor, one way or another.

***

Sean had been waiting only a few minutes by the time Adalind showed up at the art gallery. So early in the day there were very few people milling about. The advantage to him being ‘just’ a lowly police captain, and the point of him clinging to such a role, was that no one realised who he was. That’s not to say he wasn’t noticed. Sean Renard had got used to the appreciative glances of others, both men and women, from a young age thanks to his height, and his half Hexenbiest heritage. He knew his outer beauty existed in perfect balance with the rotten heart of darkness that resided within. He had no illusions about who he was and it was his true nature he was tapping into now.

“Do you think she’s prettier than me,” Adalind asked as she joined him in front of a particularly fine Reuben’s.

“I do. But that may just be a family bias. We owned this in the 17th century and lost it, along with a lot of head during the revolution.”

The painting wasn’t quite his style but he still felt proud of it, especially as it had been his mothers side of the family who had owned it. His father may be a king, but there was aristocratic heritage on the other side too. Apparently it had been a talking point when his mother and father had met. In fact, while they didn’t own the painting anymore, they did still own much of the jewellery the woman in the painting was adorned in; not that he would tell Adalind that. It would give her ideas and she clearly already had too many of those. Once he knew what he was looking for Sean had found her many infractions, times when she had failed to pass on information, or when she had failed to protect his network as expected. In short Adalind had been less than loyal since he’d made it clear that the association would no longer included her sharing his bed.

“So how are things going with our detective?”

“They’re not. He’s not interested in me,” the pout was palpable. Adalind had rarely had a man say no. Renard was pleasantly surprised. Detective Griffin went up in his estimation, especially since Hank had never shown the best taste in women.

“You know how to make yourself irresistible,” Sean said.

“I do. But it’s going to require a little effort,” she sounded positively petulant.

“Well the sooner the better. Lucky for you, he had a physical recently.” Renard pressed the vials of blood into her hand. It had been remarkably easy to obtain, not that he had done it himself. Nothing could come back onto him. As always he’d been one step removed from everything he did, pulling the strings from the shadowy background. The technician who’d provided the sample was already out of a job. He’d been too easy to coerce, too willing to bend the rules. While it might be just blood to a human, to his kind it was so much more; it was a weapon that could be turned upon the source. It was why Sean had brought in his own personal physician for the follow up. The doctor had advised Detective Griffin that he needed a series of vitamin shots. It would be the easiest way to get the antidote into him and make sure Hank wasn’t harmed by what Sean was about to insist Adalind do. If she followed the plan Hank would get nothing but a small fever and if Adalind failed to act then Sean had his answer. If she was the traitor he would enjoy making her pay.

“Your mother knows which spell I want used. She’ll be waiting to help you.”

“I don’t need her help,”

“Use it anyway. One should always show a little loyalty to those who know more than you do,” Sean insisted, his cold voice would brook no further argument.

“So why am I not going after the Grimm?”

“Because a way to a person’s soul is through their friends,” He tucked her hair behind her ear. Poor dear sweet Adalind, so smart and yet so lacking in imagination and foresight. So narrow in her view of the world and what was important. She caught his hand and held onto it.

“You know I think there’s more to this than the partner. I think you want something. Something very special.”

“Now why would you say that?”

“Because you always want something,” Adalind looked up at him from beneath her eyelashes.

“Except you,” for a moment Sean worried he was being deliberately cruel but he needed to be very clear.

“I’m sure you don’t mean that.”

Adalind used the hand she still held to draw him closer, placing it on her body. She was aware that as a beautiful woman she could elicit a response from most men. As a Hexenbiest there was a whole other level of allure she could draw on to have any man she wanted. She had never failed to get a response. There was a time when Sean Renard had been no different, he was a red blooded male with needs and his ‘biestly side super charged his libido. He had been a revelation in the bedroom and she was determined that he would move past the ridiculous idea that they were over. She pushed her body deeper into his touch. She looked for the telltale dilation of desire in his eyes, or the quickening of a pulse, but there was nothing. Sean removed his hand from her, wondering why he’d ever thought sleeping with her was a risk worth taking.

“So what’s in this for me?”

“You and your mother get to stay alive and finally pay off that debt you both owe me.”

“I thought I’d paid off my share years ago.”

“You always did over estimate your value to me.”

“And you always under estimated it. One day, when you’ve finally accepted your rightful place, you’ll truly understand just how perfect I am for you.” Adalind turned to leave giving Sean’s arm one long intimate caress. “By the way you should enjoy your Grimm while you can. I don’t think she’ll be in Portland much longer. Or so I’ve heard.”

With his fears about Adalind far from assuaged, and Meisner’s own warnings fresh in his mind, Renard left the gallery quickly. The sooner he got to the office, the sooner he could get to work on protecting his interests. He also realised that the moment he’d been avoiding for months was finally coming, and it was hurtling towards him at speed. He might finally have to tell Nicki Burkhardt, ace detective and resident Grimm, exactly who he was.

As he approached his car Renard became aware of a figure behind him and footsteps that fell into step with his own. The next thing he knew was the barrel of a gun pressed hard between his shoulder blades, he could feel the hard cold edge even through his clothes.

“My apologies sir,” The man relived him of his gun in a quick and efficient manner.

“Good morning Wolsey. I’d say this was a surprise but it really isn’t,” Sean knew that Adalind had a hand in this. After all he didn’t spend every morning hanging out in art galleries. He would need to keep a very close eye on her until he had concrete proof of her deceptions.

“Your cousin would like to see you. He’s waiting.”

“Of course he is.”

They took Sean’s car. As Sean drove out the city following Wolsey’s directions, the man sat behind him and kept the gun trained on him. They didn’t talk, there was nothing to say really. Sean made sure to keep track of where they were heading, noting that they had double backed at least twice trying to confuse matters and dodge detection. When they reached the outer edges of the city and Sean saw a derelict factory ahead, he knew that was exactly where he was being taken. Isolated, quiet and a very good place to hide a body. Drawing the car to a stop Sean got out and with a gun still pointed at him he went to meet his cousin. Anton Krug, with his European clothes and European car, was an anachronism personified as he stood waiting.

“Sorry for the blunt force Sean. I couldn’t take the risk you would refuse the invitation. My time is very limited.”

“What do you want?”

“It’s the family. We’re very concerned. Give us the key or we’ll take the Grimm and find it ourselves. We’re tired of waiting.”

“You’re the second man to tell me that in as many days. It’s almost like you don’t trust me,” Sean

“Of course we don’t trust you. You’re the bastard son of a hexenbiest whore.”

“And you’re an insignificant parasite working for table scraps from the cold-hearted murderous bitch my father’s married to. Tell me, how is the evil Queen?” Sean watched Anton twitch with anger. He knew Anton well, the man lacked dimension making him easy to read, he knew that he felt his lack of standing and position keenly. Calling him insignificant should have been enough for Anton to at least throw a punch at him which would have given Sean an opportunity to disarm him. However, it was the fact that his cousin did nothing that provided Sean with clear evidence that something else was going on.

“No one is interested in excuses. We want action.”

The way Anton almost shouted the words was very wrong. Sean looked down to find the small red dot of a sniper sight resting just above his heart. Reaching back he grabbed Wolsey and thrust the man in front of him just as he heard the bullet fire. Wolsey dropped, the single shot killing him instantly. Grabbing hold of Wolsey’s gun Sean raised it and fired at his cousin, killing Anton instantly. Another shot came from the sniper, clipping Sean’s arm, and shattering the window of the car behind him. Throwing himself over the bonnet of the car Sean took cover. Checking how many rounds he had in the gun he knew that he was in trouble. Thankfully Wolsey had only taken his gun, and had left him with his phone. He needed backup and then he just needed to stay alive.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I hope that everyone continues to weather the storm of this virus and remains safe and well.  
> As always BIG thanks for reading and bookmarking and kudos-ing, I appreciate it. Virtual wesen-hugs to all!


	11. Battle Scars and Battle Planning

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry.... I'm so sorry that it has taken me this long to post more chapters. I know you will all understand when I say that 2020 has not turned out as planned. *eye roll for stating the obvious*

On second thought Nicki probably should have knocked before she pushed her way into the Captain’s hospital room. The problem was that she wasn’t thinking. She was instead driven by instinct and the need to see for herself that Sean Renard was alive or dead. Sean was immediately on his feet as the door burst open. He snatched up his gun that he had made sure to keep close. Taking aim at the intruder his defensive stance immediately melted away as he saw that it was Nicki. His relief however immediately turned to concern.

“What the hell happened to you?”

Sean wasn’t sure which if them looked worse. He couldn’t help it but he looked her over, his eyes sweeping over every inch of her face and body. He noted the scraped knuckles and the dried blood in her hair. And it looked like claws had ripped through her clothes, scratching and tearing the skin beneath. He felt that all too familiar rage run through him at the sight of Nicki hurt, vibrating with the effort it took to muzzle his inner ‘biest.

His reaction was palpable guessing by the raised eyebrow of speculation that Eloise, the efficient and stone faced nurse, shot his way. It was a look he wouldn’t have tolerated from anyone but a trusted confident. It didn’t matter which hospital he was in, whether it was an emergency or just something routine, Eloise was always there. He had long ago given up fighting it, or even trying to work out how she knew. It was an arrangement his mother had made and it was advantageous.

“That’s quite enough of that,” the rather stern nurse tending to Renard made him lower the arm she was trying to stitch up and disinfect with a great deal of force and disapproval. “Now stay still.”

“My apologies Eloise,” Sean braced himself and let her continue as he watched Nicki Burkhardt close the door. There was a brief glimpse of Franco standing guard on the other side. The officer hadn’t left Sean’s side since he’d pulled his Captain out of the carnage, taking his statement as Wu managed the crime scene.

Nicki forced herself to stay back. She looked over every inch of Sean Renard, reassuring herself that he was fundamentally ok. He looked remarkably intact for a man who had been shot at multiple times. Beyond the graze of a bullet wound his skin was flecked with numerous lines and dots of dry blood. They were the inevitable result of being hit by exploding glass and then having that glass removed, splinter by splinter. It must have happened when a bullet shattered the car window. From the pictures Wu had sent her from the crime scene Nicki knew that Sean was never supposed to walk out of there alive, and certainly not with nothing more than just a few superficial wounds. When she’d heard he was shot Nicki had been far more frightened for Sean than she wanted to admit. Now though her rational brain kicked in and Nicki suddenly realised that Sean Renard was stripped to the waist and she was staring at his naked torso. Whatever she had been about to say however dried up between brain and mouth. Nicki felt the familiar flash and burn of heat and desire that she was starting to associate with her Captain ever since they had crossed the line and he had become Sean. It occurred to her that he was more naked than the night they had…. She should know better but she wanted him. Worse that that she wanted to be the one to look after him. And even though they were in public and he was injured, Nicki could think of a thousand things she wanted to do had it been only them. Nicki blushed, forcing herself to look away.

“Captain, sorry, I’m sorry. I should have knocked. I’ll wait outside,” Nicki started her sheepish retreat to the door.

“Don’t go Detective,” he winced as the nurse stuck the needle in him again. “I’ll ask again. What the hell happened to you?”

“Some guy tried to bundle me into the back of a car,” Nicki didn’t even think to hide it.

“You’re injured.”

“It’s nothing.”

“You have a head wound.”

“It’s just a scratch. Looks worse than it is. Wu is on his way to update you on the crime scene,”

“I’m sure he’ll have a lot to say. In the meantime, tell me what happened to you.”

“You’ve been shot at,”

“I know. What I don’t know is what happened to you. So, report detective.” Sean fixed her with his most commanding stare. “That’s an order."

Before Nicki could say anything the clattering of instruments on the metal trolley indicated that the nurse was done. Renard slid off the bed, reaching for the clean shirt that Eloise had brought with her. He had certainly thought about nakedness and Nicki Burkhardt but his fantasies had never involved so many injuries, or a hospital. Eloise stopped him with a strong hand.

“You do daily checks to make sure there’s no infection. Don’t get it wet for at least a week and you’ll need the dressing changed every couple of days. I’ll go and get what you need as well as your pain medication.” The look she gave him dared Sean to argue with her. Then Eloise pointed to Nicki. “I’ll give them to her. She looks like someone you’d listen to.”

Nicki blushed and was immediately concerned that she had done something to give her feelings for Sean away. She then started to tell herself that she didn’t have feeling for Captain Renard, that she wouldn’t, and couldn’t have feelings because that would be both dangerous and stupid. She did nothing to convince herself that was true.

For Sean, another glimpse of Nicki and a war of want and need raged within. The only bright spot on the horizon was that his contact in Vienna had passed on bad intel. The assassin had not been for Nicki. It was for him. And Sean was much happier knowing that he was a target if it kept her safe. Running through his to do list in his mind, he made a swift decision about what would happen next. He’d been cautious in his dealings up to now, picking his way through his network, finding the weak links, but the time for caution was gone. It had ended the moment that someone tried to assassinate him; the moment someone had tried to abduct his Grimm. No-one was taking Nicki away from him. Now he was going to go on the offensive and he was going to damn well protect what was his; his city, his life, his Grimm, his detective.

“So? Care to explain?”

“I’d gone to talk to Frank Rabe again.” Pacing as she spoke Nicki radiated energy. “I needed some more information.”

“You’ve had a break through.” It wasn’t a question, he could see it on her face and hear the excitement in her voice. He also saw how eager she was to escape an explanation about her own misfortunes to focus on the case. “We’ll circle back to that. Carry on."

“Just as I was leaving the law firm Hank showed up with news of your shooting. Hank took a call, so he stepped away,”

“Hank was on the phone when this happened?” Immediately interested and concerned Sean knew that this cavalier behaviour was not at all like Hank. He had lost track of time. It was perfectly possible that Adalind had done as he’d asked, but there was no way it could have worked this quickly. In fact if Adalind had followed his instructions, the precautions he’d put in place would mean it wouldn’t work at all. It seemed that he had the disturbing confirmation he had been looking for. And Hank had a problem.

“Hank stepped away. Then this car skidded to a halt at the curb and a man grabbed me, tried to push me in.”

“Was it one of the men who’s been following you?”

“Possibly. But unlikely,” Nicki found a solid surface to perch on. “Two out of three men were found dead this morning. Dolan and Vasquez were called out to a body dump around 5am. The bodies of the deceased show extreme signs of violence. They wouldn’t have even been able to id them if their id wasn’t on them.”

“But your abductor could have been the third man. Maybe the death of his accomplices made him desperate,” Sean suggested as he silently thanked Meisner for his role in this development.

“I couldn’t say for certain. He had his face covered. I also didn’t get a clear look at the driver of the car. Or maybe it’s just someone else I’ve annoyed.”

“Clearly you fought them off. And won,” Sean looked her over again.

“With Frank’s help. He showed up and managed to pull me out of there.” Nicki had been gifted a glimpse of Frank Rabe’s wesen side. Frank had grabbed Nicki’s assailant and tossed him aside like he was nothing. “It was impressive.”

“Remind me to thank him,” Sean was torn.

The sentiment and intent were genuine but it was watered down by the burning jealousy at Nicki’s easy mention of Frank Rabe and her clear respect and regard for the man. To distract himself further he started picking up the rest of his things.

“Here,” Nicki took an evidence bag from her pocket and offered it to him. “For your shirt and tie sir.”

Sean found he was a little sad about the bloody end of his tie. It was irrational, but it had become one of his favourites, given that it was the one he’d been wearing the night he had dinner with Nicki in his office. Without it Sean felt underdressed. He wanted that tie. He liked that tie. So did Nicki from the look on her face as it sank into it’s final ignoble resting place.

“Now. Let’s talk about the break through in the Michael Ross case,”

“Now?”

“Why not. There’s no point in discussing my shooting without Wu. I’ll only have to repeat myself when he does show up.”

“Ok sir. You’re in charge. But I should warn you, it’s not so much a break through as an untested theory.”

“You wouldn’t be so excited about it if you didn’t think it had merit.”

“My gut tells me this is what we’ve been looking for.”

Grabbing her notebook from her pocket, Nicki started leafing through pages. Renard perched on the edge of the gurney, his arm was beginning to throb. He also trusted her judgement and he needed to hear whatever she had to say before he went off in search of the traitors and troublemakers, so that he could make them pay for their treachery.

“To start at the beginning, I had an idea about the Ross case which was inspired by another case, specifically where one crime was being used to cover up another. Anyway, the basis of the original Ross case was money, the stealing of it, the hiding of it, and then the murders to cover up the crimes. The thing that has always bothered me was why choose Michael Ross as the person to commit the crimes. He was the obvious choice only if you wanted the crimes discovered.”

“You think Michael Ross’s crimes were hiding another crime,”

“Yes and no. And this is where it gets interesting. I think we were supposed to look at Michael Ross, but not at what his crime were, but at what he was doing that he **didn’t** think was criminal.”

“So you went to Frank Rabe to ask about the rest of Ross’s work.”

“Exactly. It turns out that Frank had a lot of information but it had just been put to one side. With Ross’ confession, and then the D.A. positively racing to prosecute the case it was never looked at. It wasn’t thought important.”

“But you think it is.”

“Do you know what Michael Ross’ company does?”

“High end real estate if I remember correctly.”

“Big, expensive, million dollar, real estate deals. And specifically Michael Ross was responsible formaking sure that the money for each deal was in a holding accounts ready for when the deal went through. Given the size of the deals the money comes from multiple sources. And that is important. And when Frank showed me the info something leapt out at me.”

Nicki frantically searched her pockets for the paper, which she unfolded and handed over to Renard. His frown deepened immediately.

“These are nine real estate purchases handled my Michael Ross’ company.”

“You’re sure this is correct?”

“Yes. It’s all there in black, white and red. The amounts tally. The dates too. I think we’ve just found where the money embezzled by the former police chief, the city council man and their accomplices ended up.”

Nicki pulled out yet another piece of paper. This time it was a map of Portland and on it she had outlined the nine buildings or parcels of land that had been purchased. With one right in the centre, the others encircled the city’s outer edges. Sean’s blood turned icy cold.

“We never made the individual transactions public. Michael Ross would have had no idea that he was helping to move the stolen money.” Nicki continued to talk, her pacing tracking across the floor. “Except maybe he was starting to suspect so someone framed him for a crime he didn’t do, or used him to tie up loose ends”

“It would keep him occupied, stop him from talking and his eventual death would silence him forever.”

“Exactly.” Nicki’s pacing stopped as suddenly as it had begun. “Of course, the other aspect of this is that someone knew. As hard as someone tried to cover this up, someone has been making us look right back at Michael Ross again. There is a third party in all of this. There has to be. Someone wanted us to find out. But they didn’t want to come forward.”

“That’s no guarantee that their intentions are honourable, or that they’re benign. The usual reason whistleblowers stay anonymous is fear. They’re afraid of reprisals,”

“I would be too given what I found out next.” Nicki took a deep breath. “Frank has a contact in the building department. They did a quick title search for us. All nine of the deals can be traced back to a single holding company. Tate Holdings. It an empty shell, but it is a known subsidiary of GQR Industries, a company with a rather dubious reputation, that’s operated out of Zurich.”

Sean was relieved that he had learned long ago not to reveal his inner feelings but he was raging. His brother had made significant inroads into his city, his territory and Sean had no doubt the traitors had helped him. Any inclination he might have had towards mercy melted away. He would make each of them pay, and pay dearly. And then he would make them watch and revel in their defeat as he took back his city.

“Being a Swiss company it’s not going to be easy to get information but we should be able to track the money back from Michael Ross’ company to see where it came from. In addition to verifying this theory we need to look closer at everyone involved from the assassins to the DA.”

“You want to investigate Jones?” Nicki once again had all of Sean’s attention.

“There was no reason for him to proceed so quickly. He could have waited for a full investigation to be completed, but pushing ahead, killed that. This information remained hidden because of his actions. I’ll admit I don’t like the man. He’s entitled, rude, a misogynist,and really needs to learn to take no for an answer, but none of that matters. What does matter is that he’s not stupid. And prosecuting this case so fast was stupid. So yes I think its worth looking into him. Sir.”

“I’ll look into the DA.” Sean was more than happy to take on the risk, especially if he was one of Eric’s lackeys. He was also more than happy to protect Nicki from any possible fall out. “And for now Detective, this stays between you and me. Work on this, but do it alone. Anything you find comes to me.”

“Of course sir,”

“And don’t even mention it to Hank, He’s got enough on his plate for the moment. And he seems somewhat distracted.”

“That’s an understatement,” If Nicki was surprised by the order she didn’t show it. If anything she was a little relieved. Nicki knew that her partner was off his game, she just couldn’t put her finger on why. She was annoyed with, and concerned about, Hank in equal measures.

“I think its time we got out of here,” he said, looking to the door expectantly, clearly hoping Eloise would appear.

Sean was just about ready to discharge himself. He’d been here far longer than he wanted to be, and he had a long list of things he needed to do today. Thankfully when the door did open it was Wu who appeared. Wu, who didn’t bat an eyelid on finding Nicki in Captain Renard’s hospital room.

Wu handed a set of car keys to Captain Renard. “I’ve had your car delivered here sir.”

“Thank you Wu.”

And right behind Wu was the chief of police.

“It’s good to see you alive Renard,” the two men exchanged a handshake. “I’ve said this before, and I’ll say it again, I would appreciate it if you could avoid being shot at.”

“I’ll continue to try my best sir,” he said dryly.

“I hope you don’t mind me following your sergeant. Wanted to see how you are, get an update. I have to say I’m a little curious as to why you’d be at that warehouse in the first place.” It was a polite way of telling the Captain that his boss was suspicious of him and his actions. It came as no surprise to anyone in the room. Scrutiny was expected.

“I didn’t go voluntarily sir. I was walking to my car when one of the men put a gun in my back and instructed me to drive to the warehouse. I’d barely exchanged pleasantries with the other man when I realised they had another gun on me. It all went to hell pretty quickly. The two men I saw went down and I shielded myself from the sniper behind the car long enough to call for help.”

“The two men were id’d at the scene as Anton Krug and Wolsey,” Wu offered the Captain the passports they found in the men’s pockets.

“German and English. That’s going to complicate matters.” Renard passed them on to the chief.

“You have no idea sir,” Wu said with his usual dry delivery.

“What do you mean?”

“They only arrived in the country this morning. Abducting you seems to have been first up on their to do lists after checking into a hotel. We suspect they brought the gunman with them. Smuggled him in.”

“How do you know?” Sean asked already suspecting what the answer would be.

“Phillips and Tremaine responded to a call from the private airport this morning. Cleaning crews found a body.”

“Let me guess, it’s the same airport as Wolsey and Krug landed at,”

“Same airport, same hanger,” Wu said. “We think the man who stepped off the plane dressed as the pilot was in fact the gunman. We were able to get this picture from the security system at the airport. And we’re trying to pin down an ID now.”

“No need. His name is Akira Kimura,”

All eyes turned towards her and she shifted under the scrutiny. Nicki stepped forward from where she had melted away into the background.

“Sir this is Detective Burkhardt. She was bringing me up to speed on another case.”

“So this is the infamous Burkhardt. I’m glad to finally meet you,” the Chief offered Nicki his hand which she took pleased that she remained steady under the intense scrutiny of her boss’ boss.

“Kimura is known internationally.” Nicki rushed on with the conversation wanting to deflect any question regarding her dishevelled appearance that the Chief of Police was taking note of. “There isn’t an international law enforcement agency that doesn’t have warrant out for his arrest. Murder is just one of the things he does. He’ll use guns but he prefers his hands. His main purpose is to find and retrieve things. Expensive, stolen, often illegal things, and he’s utterly ruthless in doing it. There was a case last year where a man he tortured for information was left without any hands or feet. Kimura stops at nothing to get what he wants, or has been hired to find.”

“You seem to know a lot about him detective.”

Nicki drew in a long breath. The curiosity was intense. This was the moment that she couldn’t avoid any longer. It was time to share what she’d discovered, and yet she couldn’t quite get the words “he also killed my parents” out if her mouth. She felt Captain Renard’s gaze on her but she couldn’t meet his eyes.

“He was already on our radar. He’s a known associate of Soledad Marquesa.” she deflected happily.

“One of the men who killed and robbed the jewellery store. Who also killed Officer Brennan,” Sean said, the memory of that case still fresh and raw.

“Didn’t Marquesa also come after you Renard?” The chief asked by way of confirmation.

“Yes sir,”

“So we need to take this threat very seriously. Particularly if he’s happy to go after our officers,” The chief said before he once more turned his inscrutable gaze toward Nicki. “Is that what happened to you Detective. I ask, because you’ve clearly been in a fight.”

“That related to another case sir,” Nicki said quickly

“The Ross case? I know you’re working on it.”

“We don’t know yet. That’s to be determined,” Sean shut down any questions knowing that any of them could start a conversation he wasn’t willing to have yet.

“So with an assassin and a kidnapper at large maybe its time to think about going into protective custody. Both of you.” It was a serious suggestion from a serious man.

“NO!” Sean and Nicki spoke the word together.

“I think that would be an over reaction sir,” the last thing Sean needed was to have his hands tied by protective custody. There was no way that he could do what he needed to do if he had someone looking over his shoulder, or worse if he was locked away.

Nicki was thinking the exact same thing. Being a Grimm was already hard enough. She needed a certain amount of freedom to act, and if her hands were tied others could suffer. She had a feeling that Monroe and Rosalee would need her very soon.

“Clearly you both need protection. Like it or not Renard we need to keep you safe. It will look really bad if you’re killed. The press would have a field day. A member of an anti corruption task force, a high profile official, and we can’t protect them. There’s not a citizen of Portland who would feel safe.”

“I agree it wouldn’t look good but I have to be able to do my job, and I can’t if I’m hindered and have my hands tied.”

“I could order it,”

“Sir. With all due respect, we have an over stretched department, with significant open cases. And we’re making inroads into those cases. Retreating now would be a tactical error,”

“I agree. If anything we need to go on the offensive, not run defence.” Nicki said. She wasn’t going to hide from anything. And she certainly wasn’t going to let someone else determine her actions. “With two of the three men who’ve been following me dead, we need to draw out the third. We need answers only he can give us. I think I should act as bait.”

“That would be highly unorthodox Detective,” the chief looked at her as if she was crazy.

“Moving quickly to work out exactly what this man’s intension are may be the only way to prevent further killings,” Nicki said, not knowing if that was true or not but really wanting to ram home her intentions.

“What do you think Renard?” The Chief turned to his Captain, seemingly happy to let him make the possible life or death decision.

“We can gain a lot by forcing this man’s hand. It’s dangerous, but I trust my detective. We have an opportunity to force him out into the open.”

“Of course the same could be said for Kimura,” Wu said.

“What was that Sergeant?”

“Kimura is in the wind. He’s difficult to find so maybe we make him come to us. Two birds, one stone,” Wu seemed to glow with the brilliance of his idea. “Or rather two criminals, one undercover operation.”

“If we did this you would still need back up. You would both need protection of some kind.” The chief said. “Too much and either target might suspect. That in itself might render this solution mute.”

“What if it didn’t look like protection,” Wu said.

“Do you have a plan Sergeant?” The chief asked. Renard and Nicki both trying to keep up with a conversation that seemed to have escaped their control very quickly.

“I do sir.” Wu said. “And it’s an excellent plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A quick thank you for all your patience in waiting for me to post and for the lovely comments on the story so far. I appreciate it and I hope that I haven't disappointed. 
> 
> P.S. apologies for any typos, or errors. This fictions is 100% unbeta'd.


	12. Fire and Manoeuvre

Sean still wasn’t sure if Wu’s plan was utter insanity or complete genius but it was the best idea they had and the Chief of Police had loved the idea so there really wasn’t much else to be said. Making a mental note to give Wu double paperwork for the next month, Sean turned his laser focus onto the task at hand; namely protecting his position and his city from his brothers encroaching influence. That meant dealing with the traitors first. As he drove across town he made a series of phone calls, each one designed to shore up his position. There would be a lot of blood shed in the city in the next few days, and Sean was happy to hold his brother accountable for all of it. However, there was one traitor he was going to deal with himself.

Understanding how these things worked Sean didn’t even bother looking for Adalind at her own house, or that of her mothers. Instead he went straight to the source. Anton had been staying at The Deluxe, that meant Adalind would be too for as long as Anton was in town. He hoped that she had not yet learned of his cousin’s sad demise. Over the years Sean had cultivated contacts in all of the city’s hotels so he didn’t even need to flash his badge to procure a pass key and the room number. Careful not to be seen, Sean navigated his way through the maze of corridors and around the stink of hundjagers, to silently let himself into room 1019.

“Hello Adalind,” Sean let the door click closed behind him.

To her credit Adalind looked genuinely surprised to see Sean in her large and luxurious, and theoretically secret, suite.

“You seemed surprised to see me.” Sean took a few steps into the room, Adalind retreating on every one of them. “Betrayal pays well I see.”

“How did you find me?” she asked her gaze shifting between his face and the obvious blood stains on his jacket and coat. Sean hadn’t bothered to change. There seemed little point when there was a high likelihood that more blood would be spilled.

“Did you know they were going to try and kill me?”

“They made me do it. You have to believe me,” she simpered, trying to make herself seem small and fragile.

“Believe you? When every word you say is a lie.” He had always known that they would end up here one day. This seemed the rather sad and inevitable outcome of their sad and inevitable dalliance.

With a careless shrug Adalind caste aside the supplicant persona. The smiling mask of deception finally falling over her features once more.

“You’re being a little dramatic aren’t you darling?” She rolled her eyes and drifted over to the credenza to fix herself a drink. “Anton was just trying to make you see reason.”

“By pointing a gun at my head. The assassin with the sniper was a nice touch,” Sean paced slowly towards her, his gaze unflinching and cold as ice, every movement predatory and dangerous. “By the way, if you’re waiting for Anton to return so you can compare notes on how you betrayed me you’ll be waiting a long time. He’s in the morgue.”

“You killed him?”

“He threatened to put a bullet in my head so I put one in his.”

To her credit Adalind barely flinched, if anything she looked a little aroused, her eyes glowing a the thought of bloodshed. She would not care, after all, Anton was nothing to her. Sean felt a wave of revulsion and was unable to keep it off his face. As Adalind saw the look in his eyes a flare of anger met it from hers.

“And you think you don’t belong in your family. You’re one of them Sean whether you want to accept it or not.” she sneered, talking to him as if he was some errant, stubborn child being scolded by its mother.

Defiant she turned to face him, moving forward until she was just out of his reach.

“You know if they did try to kill you, you only have yourself to blame. You’ve brought this on yourself. It’s why I’ve done what I’ve done. You may think I’m a traitor, that I betrayed you. But I haven’t. Everything I’ve done, my love, has been for you. I will be the making of you Sean Renard.”

“You’re trying to push me down a path I would not choose for myself. You have lied and deceived, you have sent other loyal foot soldiers to their deaths, you have weakened and undermined everything I spent years building here. You have done nothing for me, this is about you Adalind, and about what you want. It always has been.”

“You could have everything Sean if only you would see sense. Heal the rift between you and Eric, and your father will welcome you back.” Adalind was so bold as to take hold of him, pressing her body into his. Sean pushed her away.

“Make myself his lapdog?” Sean spat the words out. He knew that he would never kneel to his brother, and he would never allow Eric to hold power or dominion over him.

“No. Make yourself invaluable to him,” Adalind rounded on Sean. Advancing on him, refusing to give him space between them. “You’d have to give up a little but you would get so much more in return. You wouldn’t have to hide who you really are. Compared to what is waiting for you, this city is noting.”

“This city is everything,” Sean edged closer to her, seeking to dominate and intimidate.

“The key, the Grimm, the coins.” Adalind carried on as if she hadn’t heard him.

“I don’t have the coins,” he said. The look she shot him was disbelieving and patronising.

“It’s really very simple. You really should have grasped that by now. And your brother is perfectly reasonable, he’ll settle for just the key and the Grimm.”

“So I can keep the thing I don’t have. How generous.”

“He may even let you keep Portland. If you ask him very nicely.”

“I’ve already made it clear that the answer is no. I won’t give Eric anything,”

“Is it that you hate Eric so much, or is it because of that Grimm. She’s uncontrollable, and she’s not even that pretty. I don’t see the attraction.” Adalind’s voice and eyes turned dark with pure hatred even at the thought of Nicki. The air thickened with the possible unleashing fo her inner ‘best. “Think with your head and not your dick. The Grimm is nothing but a tool to be used. In that respect she’s no better than a whore.”

In the blink of an eye Sean had Adalind pinned against the wall, his hand around her throat, squeezing the life from her. His biest no longer in check. His power met hers but he was stronger. Sean could feel the raw power that was at his finger tips to control, and as much as he wanted to snap her neck, he needed to show some restraint.

“I’ve come to tell you that as is my right as ruler of this city I declare you ‘exterminare’, banished. Under the rules of the Concordia Transgredior you have 72 hours to leave the city or your life is forfeit. ”

“You can’t do that to me,”

“I can and I have. You’ll find no friends, no allies amongst your former life. You are the cancer at the heart of what I built, so I have cut you out.”

“You won’t do that to me. You can try Sean but you can’t just dismiss me like that. You need me, and very soon you’ll be begging for me.” defiant, Adalind was never so easily intimidated. “Tell me, how’s Hank?”

“Under your spell I’m guessing judging my your attitude but that can be easily broken.”

“Maybe if I’d done as you’d actually asked. But I’ve been working on Hank for weeks. Ever since the brave, brave man saved my life. And I didn’t bother with that weak little enchantment you wanted me to weave. I gave him something with a little more punch. Something my mothers immunity spell is powerless against.”

“What did you do?”

“I bound his soul to mine. And I threw a little obsession spell in for good measure. Hank is literally going to love me to death. There’s no mitigation, no antidote you can ask my mother to brew, the only person who can undo this and save Hank’s life is me. And I’ll do it a hell of a lot faster if you give us what we want.”

“You really are a hexenbitch,”

“There’s no need for name calling Sean,” Adalind circled around him, glowing with her confidence in her own abilities. “If you care about Hank so much you have the power to stop his suffering. You have the power to save his life.”

A silence settled on the room as Sean let the full extent of Adalind’s selfish treachery sink in. Once more she slinked closer to him, so close that he could feel the heat of her body through his clothes, he could smell her perfume, and he could sense how close to the surface her Hexenbiest was.

“I’ll even make you deal. I’ll help you keep Portland if you want it so badly. I’ll even help you betray your brother,” Adalind wrapped her hand around his neck, bringing his face within scant inches of her own, her warm breath washing over his skin. “Just give up the Grimm.”

Sean looked deep into her eyes and uttered a single word.

“Never.”  
The stinging slap of her hand on his face was not unexpected. She pushed him away, her hexenbiest rising to screech and howl at him. He had enraged her and she was losing any illusion of control.

“It’s time you realised you’re no longer in charge. Eric is. He is after all a Prince. A real one, not just a bastard. He is going to rain down all kinds of hell on you and this city and I am going to help him. We’re going to have the key and the Grimm and I’m going to enjoy watching Eric break her but only after I’ve had my turn. I’m going to take everything from Nicki Burkhardt. And I’m just getting started with her partner. You taught me yourself that a way to a person’s soul is through his friends. Hank isn’t just going to pine for me. I’m going to destroy him. His reputation. Such an honest man but he isn’t really. He’s been very chatty already. He’s been a naughty boy and broken the law. The truth will destroy him. I’ll see that it does. He’ll be dismissed, and every case he ever worked on will be tainted, and that stain will stick to Nicki Burkhardt. Her reputation won’t be worth anything. She’ll have to give up being a cop. She’ll no longer have the protection of the law. I’ll tie her hands as a Grimm, I’ll make it impossible for her to stay here. She’ll have to give up her home, her friends. And you. Because I have something special planned for you too Sean. I’ll make her hate you as well. I’ll tell her who you really are, and what you’ve done. She’ll feel sick every time she thinks about how you touched her. It will make her skin crawl. I’ll make her hate you and there’s nothing you can do to stop me.”

Sean remained passive and let her words wash over him. He was determined that she wouldn’t see how much they affected him, how much he simply wanted to tear her apart. When she was done, and silence was all that stood between them, Sean leaned in close. He kissed Adalind on the cheek, his face remaining close to hers, his voice little more that a dark whisper.

“Everything you just threatened for Nicki, I will give to you ten fold. And that is a promise.”

****

Nicki strode into the precinct alone. The minute she entered she saw Hank sitting at his desk, beaming from ear to ear and swinging on his chair.

“Where the hell were you? You take a call and you just disappeared.” She asked her partner punching him on the arm.

“You have no idea. She was amazing.”

“This is about a woman?”

“Not just any woman. Nicki this is… she is,” Hank seemed to glaze over as he thought about something. “amazing.”

Nicki punched him in the arm again.

“I was worried about you. With all the shit that’s going on you choose now to rediscover your love life? You could have at least called, or answered your phone, or remembered to take your phone to where ever the hell you decided to goof off to. Or are hers the only calls you’ll take now?”

“What is your problem?” Hank sat back in his chair and gave her attitude. “You need to calm down. I bust my ass for this job most of the time, sometimes you have to slow down and smell the roses. Take it easy.”

“I’ll take it easy when we don’t have shit to do.” It was irrational, she knew it, but Nicki could feel herself getting angrier and angrier just by being near Hank. “You need to get your head in the game.”

“You know what,” Hank’s demeanour changed. “I think you’re jealous. That I’ve got a life and you don’t. You need to get laid before you wind up some wizened, dried up old spinster. If you can find anyone who wants you that is.”

Nicki recoiled like she had been slapped. Hank might as well have hit her given how shocked she was. Hank was never unkind, he was one of the nicest people she knew and this was totally out of character. Right now though Nicki didn’t care, she could feel tears prick her eyes and she wasn’t about to give Hank the satisfaction of knowing how much his words had hit home and hurt her. Hank also hadn’t been quiet and there were more than a few other officers who were looking at him like he’d grown a second head. Among them was Wu who’d been caught delivering some paperwork to them and now had nowhere to retreat to.

“I’m going to get coffee,” Nicki said more to Wu than Hank. “I’ll have my phone with me if you need to get in touch.”

Nicki gathered what she needed from her desk and left as quickly as she’d arrived.

“I don’t know what her problem is. It’s not like I missed much,” Hank said.

“No, you didn’t miss anything at all,” Wu said offering Hank the report. “Only the captain got abducted, was shot at by an internationally reviled assassin who killed the pilot of the plane he flew in on, the Captain killed two men, he wound up in the hospital, two of the men following Burkhardt were found beaten to death, which was just hours before someone tried to snatch her off the streets while you, her partner, was on the phone, and now one of the nicest guys I know was an asshole to his partner.” Wu left the report on Hank’s desk and left. “You’re right Hank.You didn’t miss anything at all.”

Given her state of mind Nicki needed to walk off her annoyance with her partner. Getting rid of the hurt would take a lot longer. She didn’t like that what he said had affected her so much but Hank was not only a partner, he was a friend, he was family and she cared about what he said and about what he thought of her. For once the crowded streets, so full of happy people, busy with their lives bothered her. Even the Christmas cheer was too cheerful. Everywhere seemed too loud, the people too close and there just seemed to be too many of them. Nicki wanted nothing but some peace and quiet so that she could rid herself of the negative thoughts and feelings churning around inside. For the first time she allowed herself to think about what had happened, not only her near abduction, and Captain Renard’s shooting but for what she had thought and felt. Realisation came crashing in that she had feelings for her boss. Sean meant more to her than she realised and more than she dared to put a name to. In truth when she thought about relationships she always thought of them as something that other people indulged in; something that just wasn’t for her. And for the first time in forever she wanted what she didn’t have. She realised that she had no idea how to do this, either as a woman, or as a Grimm. She was doomed.

It took two walks around the block, a trip to two different bakeries, and a stern but silent talking to, for Nicki to calm down enough to return to the precinct. Wu passed her in the corridor as she arrived back at the right floor.

“The Captain just got back and he wants to see you,” he said then stopped as Nicki put a take out coffee cup and a take out bag into his hands. She had suddenly lost her appetite as she found her emotional insides once again tied up in knots. “What’s this?”

“A thank you for everything you do.”

“Your thank you smells good,” Wu took a huge bite of the muffin, crumbs spilling down his uniform. “Taste frigging amazing too.”

Nicki walked straight past her desk, pointedly ignoring Hank who gave her the stink eye as she passed. Nicki knocked on the open door of the Captain’s office. Renard was bent over his desk concentrating on what he was reading. He had found a new tie from somewhere.

“You wanted to see me sir?”

“Come in Burkhardt,”

No sooner had she moved out of the way than Hank was standing in her place.

“You wanted to see me too captain,” Hank said taking a seat in front of the Captains desk. He focussed his attention on Nicki. “You going to talk to me like crap again,”

“Only if you act like an ass again.”

“Detectives,” Sean said but what he meant was ‘children’. He closed the door and moved back behind his desk.

Sean had to remind himself that it was Adalind’s spell making Hank act like an asshole, or else he would have happily punched Hank in the face. News of Detective Griffin’s bad attitude had reached his ears seconds after his return. Thankfully there was something that would help Hank and it was hopefully arriving soon. Adalind may have created a problem, and she may have worked alone, but no spell was truly impervious and so a damper, would at least take the edge off for Hank. It would buy him, and Sean, and Nicki, some time.

“I think we should talk about Wu’s plan.” Sean turned to Nicki. “We still have time to rethink the plan if you want. I wouldn’t want you to feel uncomfortable.”

“It’s a good plan, sir.” Nicki was aware she smiled a little too brightly. It was simultaneous the best and worst plan that had ever been thought of. It dragged every illicit thought she’d ever had about Sean Renard into the light and made them inescapable.

“What plan?” Hank looked confused, he had clearly missed something and that was probably Nicki’s fault.

“I wouldn’t want you to feel obliged to go through with it just because the Chief signed off on it.”

“What plan?” Hank asked again starting to sound truly pissed off. He was twitchy, wired, like he had been when he’d been under the influence of the coins, or as if he’d taken a jar of strong coffee and eaten the whole thing.”

“If the alternatives are protective custody or waiting around for another attack, I’ll pick this every time. But if you’re having doubts then maybe we should think again.”

“Is someone going to tell me what the hell is going on?” Hank had gone from annoyed to pissed, his voice so loud he drew attention from the squad room.

“We’ll get started as soon as Wu joins us,”

“I’m here sir.”

As if summoned by mention of his name Wu appeared with files for the Captain, coffee and a delivery. The door was once more firmly closed. Sean took the offered delivery and looked at the carefully applied cursive script. It was Catherine Schade’s hand, and it was exactly what he’d been waiting for. He opened the box.

“Cookies,” Wu said his eye’s going wide. His sweet tooth was legendary around the precinct.

“A gift from a grateful acquaintance,” Sean said. And one that would come with a little extra for Hank. “Would anyone like one? I hear you’re rather fond of cookies Hank.”

“Ooh, chocolate chip cookies,” Wu said snatching one off the top

“Hey, I want one of those,” Hank reached in and took two.

Sean was pleased. With Hank hopefully about to get back to his old self, or at least to dampen the effect of whatever Adalind had done to him, he felt now was a good time to get back to business. Sean sank into his chair.

“So in light of todays events and to bring everyone up to speed, after the attempted kidnapping and the attempted murder, the chief suggested that Detective Burkhardt and I should go into protective custody, but seeing as how neither one of us would be happy with that Nicki suggested that we take a more proactive route.”

“I’m following you so far,” Hank said around a mouthful of cookie.

“We’re going to act as bait Hank. We’ll try to draw out the third man following Nicki, and my assassin too. Hopefully one will show up, and if we get very lucky they both will.”

“I like the idea of you going into protective custody. Look at what they’ve already done to you.” Hank blinked and he looked at her as if her was seeing her for the first time. “Damn. Look at what they’ve done to you.”

“I know, I look like shit. We’ve already covered that.” Nicki found she wasn’t quite ready to forgive him just yet.

“Look Hank, I don’t disagree that Burkhardt and I need to take care, which is where this plan becomes a little complicated. And unorthodox.”

“Look. The Captain and I are both safe when we’re here at the precinct, but when we’re not here, we’re not so safe.”

“So while we’re drawing out the third man and Kimura, we’re also going to watch out for each other. We’re going to have each others backs.”

“In plain English?” Hank gaze narrowed in on both of them.

“Well, for instance tonight I’m going out to dinner, and the Captain is joining me,” Nicki drew in a deep breath waiting for Hank to catch up, and concerned because he usually wasn’t this slow. “We’re going to pretend that we’re dating Hank. That secrecy and discretion are required because we’re breaking the rules by dating. So we’re going somewhere quiet, somewhere with not a lot of people around. Minimise any collateral damage.”

“Somewhere with plenty of vantage points for our backup to hide without being seen,” Sean explained, glad that he’d already arranged for Meisner to join them.

“And if it doesn’t work?” Hank asked bluntly.

“Then its suggested that we continue the pretence until it does. Or until it’s no longer necessary,” Sean smoothed his tie and sat back to watch his senior detective closely.

“Who came up with this plan?”

“I did,” Wu seemed more than happy to take ownership.

“And it’s a good plan, one that is proactive, not reactive,” Nicki tried to show as much enthusiasm as she could. “Its a trap. A quiet location, minimal civilians, Wu will be in the window and you’ll be outside.”

“And we’ll all be on burner phones. Given what’s at stake, and that we still have a mole in the department, I want everyone’s undivided attention. And I don’t want us to be tracked.” There was no mistaking the double meaning behind Sean’s order. “That is if you want to join us. If your head is in the game, detective.”

“I’ll be there,” Hank said.


	13. The Knife Edge Pt1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I figured you'd all been so patient that the least I could do is post 3 new chapters in one evening... and a little romantic smut lies this way...

There was a certain calm that existed at the precinct in the evenings. The office of Captain Sean Renard was quiet, dark and deserted. For once the Captain had left early. The rumour in the precinct was that someone had tried to kill him. It was a pity they failed, thought the Janitor who was methodically picking the lock on Renard’s desk. Working with conviction and as much speed as he could manage, he thought of nothing but his need to get inside. Earlier he’d watched the Captain stow away a hard drive with the same slight of hand and stoic demeanour he’d become familiar with over the many months of watching him. Now he needed to get sight of them. His boss had demanded it, and it seemed it was a matter of some urgency, and he was only too eager to serve. There were rumours floating around he city, talk that there was a revolution on the way, that the old ways and proper order to things were about to be restored to the city of Portland. He had no idea what Captain Renard had to do with it, but he didn’t care. It wasn’t his job to wonder about such things. He just needed to follow orders. Hearing the lock click and the drawer give the janitors triumph was short lived he opened it to find it empty. Then a light went on in the far corner of the room.

“Captain Renard,” the janitor blinked at the sudden flood of light. Sean looked over the man who had seated himself so presumptuously behind his desk.

“It’s not in there.”

“What?”

“Whatever it is that you were looking for,”

“I was just,” Renard silenced the man with a single look of dangerous predation, freezing his man in place like the scrap of prey he was.

“There really is no good way to end that sentence.”

Rising to his full height Sean straightened the jacket of his hand made dark blue suit, and smoothed out the silk tie. He had the commanding presence of a hunter and he inhabited every inch of it with determination. He’d taken a great deal of care with his appearance this evening, after all he had made a determination. He was going to court Nicki Burkhardt. Detective, Grimm, Woman, and so much more. He wanted her. But she would only ever accept him if they met as equals, and for that to happen he would have to be honest. Ever since he’d known what it was to feel her beneath him he’d wanted to tell her everything. Even though he knew that it wasn’t either possible or prudent. He was going to take the threat out of someone else telling her the truth out of the hands of his enemies.

Sean was going to have to tell her not only the truth about himself, but also about the part he played in Marie Kessler’s death. And that would mean telling her everything that had led up to those specific events. There were years and years and layers of secrets, and he knew more about her than she knew herself, but for the first time since he and his mother had had to flee for their lives, and he gave up everything he knew, he dared to hope for things he knew he could not have. He could only trust that because of their existing knowledge of each other that Nicki would listen to all of the explanation, as it was far more complicated than anyone knew.

It was not without risk. Sean Renard was a man who had long ago resigned himself to a life without love. One of his earliest lessons in life was that love made you weak. When you loved someone who handed your enemies a weapon; someone that could be used against you, and something you could lose. But Nicki was a risk worth taking. She was worth fighting for, and so tonight would be his opening gambit.

Sean turned back to the task at hand.

“I’d ask you how long you’ve been working for my brother but I already know. The man you’ve been reporting too was very forthcoming. He told a lot.”

Reaching into his jacket he pulled out his gun, the silencer already attached. The janitor looked towards the door for escape and salvation and was duly surprised to find another man standing there, one who was wearing an identical uniform to his own. Meisner seemed almost bored. He had never been one to play with his kills.

Sean stepped a little closer. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to kill you now.”

“aut neca aut necare”

“If you insist,”

Sean pulled the trigger. The silencer on his gun making nothing more than a brief coughing sound. A single bullet was all that was needed before the Janitor slid to the floor. Sean immediately double checked to make sure that no one had seen or heard anything they shouldn’t, but with teh blinds closed they were safe. Quickly Meisner gathered up the body, lifting it into the large trashcan the janitor had been wheeling around. Covering the body with trash from Renard’s office there was nothing to show for the homicide except a few drops of blood on the floor. The swiftness and lack of fuss seemed anticlimactic. The hunt to find the man had been more exciting.

“I have to go,” Sean said checking his watch. “You’ll join us at the restaurant once you’ve finished cleaning up?”

“I’ll be there,” Meisner said. “But I’ll make sure not to intrude.”

***

Nicki arrived the restaurant, one that the Captain had chosen, mired in uncertainty but confident that she could do the job. In fact she was determined, both as a cop and as a Grimm, to get this done. She needed answers, and there was more than one open investigation that was hanging on the outcome of tonight. Firing off a text to Hank and Wu to confirm that she had arrived Nicki stepped inside just as the fresh snow was starting to fall. The warmth embraced her. The dark walls and low lighting only served to emphasise the intimacy that was created by the high backed booths that curved around the tables. Nicki spotted him as she handed her coat over to the hostess. It didn’t escape her notice that coincidence of coincidences but her dress was not a dissimilar colour to the suit he was wearing. Making her way to the table she felt the fabric of the dress that draped over her curves caress her skin. The wrap skirt splitting open on every step to real almost the full length of her leg. She’d spent a fortune on the Zhivago gown after falling in love with it over a year ago and yet never worn it until now. To have Sean Renard look at her the way he did, with desire and appreciation, made it worth every dollar. He watched her with intent as she approached, a rare small smile making his eyes sparkle.

Nicki slid into the booth beside him. “I’m sorry to keep you waiting.”

“You haven’t,” She watched as his eyes dropped to her mouth that was painted a deep berry red before he leaned forward slightly and placed a kiss on her cheek. She could feel the warmth of his body and she was sure he would hear the hitch in her breathing as she responded to his proximity. “You look beautiful.”

“Thank you,” Nicki responded. “I’ll let Wu know you approve. He was very clear about what constitutes appropriate attire. Based on some of his texts I’m very concerned about what he thinks I do when I’m not at work.”

“Wu certainly seems invested in making sure this goes well.”

“He does.”

A silence fell between them that grew longer and then longer still.

“Well, this isn’t awkward,” Nicki said placing her phone on the table. Both Hank and Wu would be looking to keep in touch and she didn’t want to go fishing in her bag if her phone rang or they messaged her.

“Not at all,” he said dryly. “How about we order?”

“Great idea,”

With something concrete to do Nicki felt on more solid ground. She could do this, she had to do this. There were so many reasons for her to do this. She gave herself the mental pep talk she needed and then gave the waitress her order.

“This is an amazing place,” she said looking around at every detail.

Sean draped his arm around the back of the booth. Throwing a teasing smile her way she couldn’t remember a time she had ever seen Sean Renard so relaxed.

“What?” Nicki knew when she was being found amusing.

“You were checking it out like a cop.” He kept his voice low. “Exits, lines of sight, anything that could be used as a weapon or as defence.”

“Just doing my job. Tell me you haven’t done the same.”

She finished her tactical assessment of the location. The restaurant was small, but not too small, and it was expensive enough that they would avoid running into anyone from work. There was also a pretty glass front to the building that would give Hank a clear line of sight into the front of restaurant, and the rear was sufficiently private that Wu would have plenty of cover as he stood watch. Nicki could see what Sean had known for a long time; This was a great strategic position from which to run this operation.

“I know the owner,” Sean said by way of explanation. The owner was one of his closest and most loyal allies; one who was more than happy to assist the Prince of Portland. And of course there was always Meisner for additional backup should they need it. He was taking no unnecessary risks. The restaurant was the only place Sean would have considered doing this, and one day he would bring Nicki back when they weren’t looking over their shoulders for gun wielding man men and assassins.

Once more the awkward silence settled between them. Nicki felt like her teenage self, wondering what do with her hands, feeling uncomfortable in her clothes and even in her own body, and not saying anything because anything she thought of in her head sounded ridiculous. For once Renard seemed equally uncertain of himself. Nicki’s phone beeped loudly as several texts came through all at once. Swiping the screen she read the full message and smiled. It seemed Hank had got over the attitude, and Nicki had never been able to stay mad at him for very long. The phone beeped again. It was another message except this one made her blush. Nicki looked up to find Sean watching her, the weight of his intense scrutiny was enough to stop her breath. Held in place she couldn’t look away. Suddenly the world shrank to the size of the booth.

“What does Detective Griffin have to say?”

“He told me to relax,” she stated. “Wu is asking about the food.”

“And the second message from Hank?” Sean didn’t move. Griffin must have said something to make Nicki blush the way she had. Nicki drew in one long shaky breath and kept her voice low.

“Hank says, and I quote, ‘On 2nd thoughts, if any1 is going 2 buy u as a couple you BOTH need to relax. You’ll need 2 make 1st move. Capt has a stick up his ass about the rules. He won’t want to cross the line.”

Sean laughed. “So he doesn’t know that we already crossed that line.” His humour melted away as his long elegant fingers brushed away her soft curls to trace their way down the side of her neck. He could feel her racing pulse under his thumb. Sean leaned in so close. He didn’t want there to be any doubt in her mind about his sincerity. “Or that I enjoyed doing it. Or that I’ve thought of that night, of you, many times.”

“So have I.” It was only fair that honesty was met with honesty, and with a confession of her own. “In so many ways I think this would be easier if the other night hadn’t happened. If all I had to do was pretend that I find you attractive, and feign intimacy, then this would still feel like work. But I think we both know that I’m not pretending.”

“Neither am I Nicki.”

Sean drew her closer. She was warm beneath his touch. It was so like her to just be honest, to lay it out there, as if she was daring him to disapprove. She was fearless, in every way that mattered. Having been subjected to more lies and deceptions than any child should be, honesty was a quality Sean prized.

“We’ve blurred the boundaries,” her voice was so quiet that he barely heard her. Sean had woven his fingers through her hair, just like he did the other night, and she was distracted by it.

“Is that what we’re calling it now?” Sean spoke the words against her skin as his mouth laid a small trail of kisses along her jaw.

“What do you want to call it? We fucked Sean,” there was a tinge of annoyance in her voice. The one that suggested she didn’t think he was taking the situation seriously enough. It sent a frisson of arousal through him.

“Say that again,” he practically growled the words out, trying to hold onto that last shred of control.

“We fucked.”

“No. My name.” He looked her in the eye. “Say my name. Say it like you did when I was so deep inside I didn’t know where I ended and you began.”

“Sean,” it was a whispered benediction, her mouth so close to his, that he felt the word as she spoke it. It was the sound that had haunted him ever since.

There was a polite clearing of a throat from the waitress who had brought them their food. Nicki retreated to a polite distance, because when the hell had they got so close. Sean’s phone beeped. He slid it across the table so Nicki could see it. The message from Hank was nothing more than a line of thumbs up emoji’s.

“I’m starting to have serious doubts about his sanity,” Sean said, secretly concerned by how little effect Catherine’s dampener had had on Hank. For once Adalind hadn’t been over stating her prowess.

“I wouldn’t worry too much. Hank always gets a little punchy when he’s picking out his next wife. Luckily most of them never seem to stick around long enough to seal the deal.”

“Let’s hope he gets through this unscathed.”

“I think we’ll all need a little luck to survive this one.”

With amazing food to indulge in, Nicki wanted nothing more than to just relax into the evening. She was with a man who was charming, smart, attentive and not bad to look at. He was also a man that didn’t have a problem that she was a cop, carried a gun or could drop him to the floor like a hogtied calf. She found it far too easy to forget that this was an illusion, that they weren’t dating, no matter how many intimate confessions they shared. She would have no such luck. Sean’s phone beeped again, this time a deep frown etched itself into his features.

“Hank wants to know if you’ve told me about Kimura yet.”

Nicki swore under her breath. “I’ll kill him.”

“Please don’t. The paperwork would be excruciating,”

“Fine.”

“So what should I know about Kimura that I don’t. Because I know you well enough Nicki to know that you were holding something back this morning.”

Nicki seemed to fold in on herself. She had been avoiding talking to her Captain about Kimura. It all felt too big and out of her control. It was a subject that made her feel raw and exposed. But this wasn’t her Captain, not tonight. Tonight he was simply Sean. The way they looked at her was enough to make her continue.

“I’ve found out a few days ago that Kimura is one of four men responsible for murdering my parents.” Nicki barely got the words out as they stuck in her throat and tried to choke her. The hurt was obvious even though she tried to shrug it off. Sean slid his hand over hers. “I had intended to tell you yesterday, but you were in a meeting, and then a case came up. I wouldn’t want you to think that I was keeping anything from you.”

More than I already have to, Nicki thought to herself as she silently listed the many many things that she was keeping secret from everyone including her boss, her friends, her partner.

“I knew there were questions about the nature of your parents accident. I didn’t realise they had identified suspects You said Kimura was one of four men.”

“Soledad Marquesa was another.And it turns out that Farley Kolt has, had, a connection to my family too. He knew my aunt. Very well in fact.”

“Farley Kolt,” Sean thought over the name. “The man who has the coins.”

“Is it possible that Kimura wants the same thing as Marquesa?” Nicki asked. “Maybe that’s why he’s targeting you. You were the last one to have the coins before Kolt.”

“If that is the reason clearly he doesn’t know that Farley Kolt took the coins and left town.” Sean thought the idea over. It was certainly worth considering along side his family’s desire to get rid of him. If Kimura was extra motivated then he would be extra dangerous. “It seems we have another reason to take Kimura alive. There are a lot of questions he needs to answer. Including your parents murder.”

“Thank you Sean.”

It might have been the emotional conversation, or the smell of his cologne, or the purple silk of tie, but Nicki couldn’t help herself. She kissed him, their mouths melding together in a slow soft exploration. Sean threaded his fingers through her hair, keeping her close as he took the initiative and deepened the kiss. A sharp jolt of electricity seemed to super charge the kiss. Sean devouring her mouth, Nicki arched against him, her breasts and body and seeking as much contact with Sean as possible. When they finally pulled away their pupils were blown wide with desire.

Sean’s phone beeped. He kept one arm around Nicki as he checked the message from Hank.

“Apparently we have an audience,” Sean glanced towards the windows. Sean leaned in close as if he were whispering sweet nothings in her ear. “The man who’s been following you is watching from across the street. He’s slipped into the doorway of the antiques store so he can’t be seen.”

“So we’ve drawn out one of our targets. That’s good to know,” Nicki said as he pulled away. “Its not far from where I parked my car. An ambush do you think?”

“He’ll fail if he tries.”

“What do you want to do?”

So many things thought Sean. “I think we should order desert. They have an excellent pastry chef and you of all people will appreciate his skill.”

“That sound great. But first you'll have to excuse me as I’m going to refresh my lipstick.”

“Be careful,” Sean’s look of concern must have been grave indeed. Nicki stopped her slow slide out of the booth. He found himself going still, because in addition to leaning in close, she’d also put her hand on his thigh. It was the lightest of touches but it was like his cock had been hit be lightening. “Don’t worry. I’m fully armed and I have my handcuffs.”

His brain shorted out for a few minutes but then his over riding thought as he watched her retreat was to wonder how and where she was concealing a weapon in a dress that hid both everything and nothing. Sean ordered coffee and desert, checked in with Hank and Wu, double checked with Meisner, and waited for Nicki to return. He was aware of the anticipation held in that small, quiet act of patience, and how long time seemed to become. With nothing and no one to distract him he also became aware of the insistent thrum of arousal that coursed through his body. 

The arrival of desert and coffee heralded Nicki’s return. As she wove her way back to him Sean became aware of the number of eyes that watched her and coveted her. Having determined that they were all strangers Sean gave them his best glare, a silent warning and a marking of his territory. Nicki caught him as she once more sat down beside him. Sean drew her closer, this was a moment when intimacy was allowed, and he was damn well going to enjoy it. He would stake his claim.

“Sean,” the one word was partnered by the light touch of her hand on his arm. Sean gave them one more brief look, dismissing them, before he returned all his attention to Nicki. Once more the full curves of her mouth were adorned with the alluring slick berry red gloss.

“Nice lipstick,”

“Thanks.”

“It’s a pity it won’t be staying on very long,”

“It was a gift from my roommate. It has one of those ridiculous names they only give to make up or paint colours. ‘Kitten’s got Claws!’. I mean seriously, who thinks of these things?”

Sean didn’t know and he really didn’t care as he lowered his mouth to hers briefly, stunning her into silence. He wanted to kiss her again but, predictably, she had all her attention on the wide platter of exquisitely crafted deserts, each one no more than a mouthful, designed to seduce and indulge.

“Not quite cheesecake,” Sean knew he was poking the memory of the other night but he loved the way her breath hitched, the way her pulse raced. He so often took his heightened ‘biest senses for granted, but that was the part of him that allowed him to be so in tune with her.

Nicki picked up one of the small treats. Popping it in her mouth the sound she made was inhuman.

“Careful. You’ll make me think of other things,”

“Maybe I want you to think of other things.” The words had just tumbled out of her mouth, and now they were out she didn’t want to take them back. She wanted them to be true. She wanted him. Nicki knew that there was no going back after this. Even though she was full of fear and uncertainty. And with no possible retreat the only remaining path was forward. “Maybe I want you to do more than just think about them."

Sean considered Nicki and her offer.

“You have no idea how much I want you. All of you.” He said. Reacting to the doubt in her eyes he took her hand and placed it on the raging erection that was confined behind his zipper. He then moved her hand, holding it tight in his own, and holding it over his heart. “And not just your body Nicki. I want your mind and your spirit and your bravery too. But the choice is yours. If we do this, then we need to talk. There are some things you need to know about me first.”

“That sounds like a good idea.” She had no idea where she found her voice. “There are probably some things you should know about me too.”

“So we talk. But not here,” Sean looked around. “It’s not a conversation for a restaurant. Or for anywhere public.”

“And not when we’re in the middle of an undercover operation.”

“Best not. But soon.”

“Yes. And Sean, you can trust me. Whatever you have to say I want to hear it.”


	14. The Knife Edge Pt2

Stepping out into the deep cold and gently falling snow of a December night in Portland Nicki and Sean played their roles perfectly; two people, utterly infatuated, eager to get home and get each other naked. Shifting slowly they used the charade to cover their surveillance of the street. Nicki counted off the doorways to the point where they knew danger was hiding. Hank had confirmed the location of their stalker via text before they’d left the restaurant, but any suggestion the man was there had been well hidden by the night and the falling snow. A good couple of inches had fallen during dinner, making the world quieter than it had been, frosting the trees, and dimming the glow of the lights that decorated their branches. Small pools of soft light emanated from the tastefully expensive store windows, and the apartments above. Combined it lent the street an ethereal and other worldly feel but Nicki knew that, as magical as it was, the lights created too many shadows; too many dark corners for dangers to hide in. It all seemed peaceful and calm, but of course they knew that there was someone, something, waiting for them. Somewhere in the distance a clock struck midnight.

Sean pulled the collar of her coat up around her face to protect her from the cold, holding her close to him, selling the idea that they were nothing more than two lovers entirely wrapped up in each other, oblivious to the world around them. Sean crowded in close his warm breath whispering across her cheek.

“Your car or mine?” He asked, his eyes dilating as he felt Nicki shiver with futile arousal.

“Well, he’s waiting close to mine, so I say yours. We can draw him out. Force him to improvise.”

“Excellent plan Detective.”

When Sean wrapped his arm around her shoulders it was the easiest thing in the world to put her arm around him in return. Tucked under his arm Nicki felt small and protected. Taking a slow walk up the almost deserted street they kept their movements unpredictable. A whispered word here, a teasing kiss there, hands clutched at bodies, seemingly restless with passion. They were always shifting, always changing their point of view, shielding each other as they listened to the night and used the reflections in the shop windows to gauge any encroaching threat. Nicki didn’t need to look towards Hank to know that he was there. Wu would be close too, having adjusted his position. She trusted that they would be there for her and the Captain when they needed them. Catching a glimpse of the man he was clearly wrong footed by Nicki not returning to her car. His planned ambush now obsolete. Nicki could feel the palpable moments of his indecision. Inevitably he broke cover to track them, pulling the hood of his sweatshirt down over his face, tucking himself into as many shadows as he could find.

“I think we have his attention.”

“It would certainly appear so.”

“Time to spring the trap.”

Sean crowded her into a dark and empty doorway, its inky blackness the perfect cover. His body blanketed hers in vulnerable warmth, a dichotomy of intimacy and violence as together they reached for, and armed, their weapons. Nicki looked back up the street through the glass window of the shop whose doorway they occupied.

“He’s moving closer. He’s watching to see what we do.” she said.

“We wait.”

Nicki glanced up briefly to find Sean watching her. Fire seemed to burn in his eyes and he looked like he wanted to devour her. Focused as he seemed to be on the job Nicki was surprised to find him aroused. Her own desire was there, but banked beneath the greater need to keep them both alive. She looked back at the street.

“He’s moving again,” she shifted a little to improve her view, her body brushing lightly against his as she did so. Reflexively his hand tightened on her hip.

“Now is not the time, Detective”

“Now is exactly the time Captain.”

The tension in her body and change in her tone of voice made it clear that Nicki wasn’t talking about ‘them’. The man had left all illusion of cover and was walking directly towards them. As the stalker pulled his hand out of his pocket Nicki caught a flash of a weapon. Letting Sean know, they waited until the stalker had almost drawn level with them. Sean stepped out into the street, gun raised. Nicki stepped out right beside him.

“Looking for me?” she asked. She recognised him immediately as the man who’d been following her. There was something supremely satisfying to see their mark look so surprised.

“Portland PD. You’re under arrest,” Sean spoke, authority and command in every syllable.

With a roar of pure rage the man threw himself at Sean, the two men trading punches, each seeking a solid footing amongst the snow. Clearly he didn’t respond to authority or command.

“Back off you’re under arrest,” Nicki shouted but her words were lost as the man suddenly picked Sean up with super human strength and threw him across the hood of the nearest car.

Turning towards Nicki she watched as, even beneath the cover of his hoodie, she saw the man’s face and form morph into that of a Siegbarste.

Opening fire, Nicki took shot after shot. Maintaining what distance she could she watched as the bullets hit him, but didn’t stop him. Expelling her empty clip she fitted another, aware of Sean getting to his feet. With another roar of pure rage the man threw himself at Nicki this time, grabbing hold of her. She twisted in his grasp, her impractical shoes hindering more than they helped, as he dragged her behind him out into the street.

On his feet, Sean took aim and emptied his clip into the man’s back. Still he did not drop. Nicki scrambled to get her feet beneath her. Suddenly a car careened around the corner.

“Out of the road,” Nicki yelled at Sean who was it is path.

Throwing himself out of the way Sean rolled to a stop against the tyres of a parked vehicle. The car screeching to a halt, skidding in the snow. It was clear it was here for her.

Pulling her to her feet the guy ripped Nicki’s gun from her hand, jarring bones and tearing flesh. He woged back to his human state, and Nicki took it as a sign that this guy was unafraid of her, and was happy that she knew it. She wasn’t going to let that stop her though. Fighting back Nicki clawed at the man’s hand. Tearing open her coat she slipped out of it and out of his clutches. Turning to rain down an assault of fists and kicks, taking a few blows of her own from him, she silently thanked Hank for the boxing lessons. A well aimed knee to his groin made the man double over in pain. In the next second he was dead.

Time seemed to stop. Nicki stared down at the man’s perfectly executed head wound, feeling his blood on her clothes and skin. Her heated breath plumed in cold the air. She looked back at Sean who was back on his feet and searching for any sign of the shooter.

“Get out of the street,” Hank had finally decided to join in and was running up the street towards them.

Another shot rung out, the sharp clash of bullet hitting metal, an arc of light bouncing off the car nearest to Sean. A telltale red dot appeared on his chest and Sean once more ducked for cover. With Sean pinned down between parked cars, and Hank too far to help, Nicki turned to run too only to find herself in a face-to-face fist fight with the driver of the car. The accomplice seemed to want her just as much as the ogre did. Another shot rang out and the attacker went down, injured just enough to free Nicki from his assault.

“I’ve got him Captain. The shooter. North West corner of the street,” Wu pointed to where the glint of a sniper sight flared with the reflected Christmas lights. “I’ll give you cover.”

Assuming it was Kimura, Nicki watched as Sean ran off in the direction Wu had indicated. Hank skidded to a halt beside her.

“Call for back up,” she asked her partner. The gun fire had drawn the inevitable curiosity of fearful residents. “And we’re going to need some crowd control.”

“I’ve got this?” He said wrestling the wounded suspect into cuffs. “Go.”

Scooping up her gun from where it had fallen Nicki rearmed herself. She also shedded her ridiculous shoes. Running through snow in bare feet was ridiculous but she was pissed off enough not to notice.

With the head start Sean had reached the roof and was pursuing the sniper back towards them at height. They were little more than shadowy figures dodging and weaving their way through the night. If she wasn’t a Grimm, Nicki would never have known they were there. Racing to get in front of them Nicki found a gap between buildings and headed for a fire escape. Scaling the four storeys she moved fast, determined to get this arrest. If this was indeed Kimura then she had questions for him. Moving to intercept she heard them coming, the two men powering their way towards her. She moved to the edge of the roof she was on just as Kimura reached the edge of the roof on the other side of the gap.

“Stop right there,” Nicki raised her gun, perfectly positioned to prevent his jump and continued escape.

Kimura stopped. He had no where to go but down. Vicariously placed on the safety wall, the short distance between buildings all of sudden became a gapping hole of darkness that the falling snow slithered down into. Great plumes of breath rose from them all, the heat of the pursuit evaporating into the rapidly freezing air around them. Nicki stared into the face of the man who had killed her parents and she felt her heart freezing too.

“Time to give up Kimura,” Sean kept his gun raised, inching closer, ready to pull Kimura down. “There’s no where for you to go. You’re trapped.”

Kimura turned a little so that he could keep one eye on each of them. His smile chilling enough to make Nicki’s blood run cold. And then she felt it.

“No. It looks like you’re trapped.”

From the surrounding roofs, and from inside the buildings they were standing on, more than a dozen men and woman, all dressed in black swarmed in. Forming an impenetrable barrier around Nicki and Sean. They blocked all hope of escape. They stood silently by, their black clothes blending them into the surrounding night, even as the mark on their hands stood out like beacons, the decorated flat palms both a badge of dishonour and a salute of solidarity in terror. Verrat.

If there was anytime for Nicki to realise that she was in deep shit, it was now. She couldn’t fault them. Tactically they’d picked the perfect moment, maybe knowing that the earlier fight might wear them down, possibly weaken them, and certainly leave any defences they had depleted. Keeping her gun trained on Kimura, and her senses trained on the Verrat, Niki risked a look at Sean. He would have passed some of the Verrat in hiding during his pursuit of Kimura. He had been blinded to their presence and he was silently cursing himself out for not seriously thinking of this possibility. He may not like his brother but Sean knew very well that Eric was a master of plans within plans within plans. And now the lack of foresight had put Nicki in danger. The look he sent back to her said only one thing; that they were in this together. Nicki only hoped that would hold true given what would inevitably come next.

One of the Verrat agents stepped forward, “Kill him, but we take the girl alive.”

The order given, one by one the Verrat agents woged, face after face shedding its humanity to reveal the savage beastial face beneath, teeth sharp and eyes without mercy.

“Grimm,” the word murmured through them over and over again.

It was impossible for Nicki not to watch. Her secret was out, not that she could expect Sean to understand. For all he knew ‘Grimm’ could explain the situation they found themselves in. She looked for him among the crowd. He had to be freaking out and yet there wasn’t a single goddam thing that had changed. He stood strong and still, his gun still levelled on Kimura as if he hadn’t noticed that the humans surrounding them were a lot less human. His reaction threw her. He wasn’t freaking out. Either Sean Renard was as calm under fire as his legendary reputation made him out to be, or this wasn’t a surprise. Suddenly Nicki found herself wondering just how much he knew.

Slowly the Hundjager started to move in, a single step at a time, the tension ramping up, waiting for someone to make the first move. Nicki felt sick to the pit of her stomach. She was the reason they were here. If they wanted her alive then she HAD to be the reason they were here. She did not want to be the reason that Sean Renard died. And then she felt the surge, the wall of energy expanding just as it did that day at the court house, just as she had felt it before. It was like the air was being sucked out of the atmosphere. And then it broke. Sean woged. Nicki forced herself to hold her ground as his face was torn apart by the wesen within. She was surprised by how unsurprised she was. And then she saw it. That little flicker of doubt in his eyes, the look that lay behind the defiance, the look that doubted what she would do next. She looked him right in the eyes, a small smile ghosting across her lips. Her best friend was a Blutbad. There was more than enough room in her life for another wesen.

“When you said we needed to talk you weren’t kidding.”

Any response Sean had was silenced with the Verrat attack. The first wave surged forward, most towards Nicki, as Kimura threw himself at Sean. Nicki swung her gun at those advancing on her and emptied the clip quickly. Without blinking she knew she’d killed three, and injured another two. Sean had done the same. The hundjagers who had moved to attack him dropping to the ground, their lives forfeit. Unfortunately for Nicki there were more hundjager to take their place. Sean though had his hands full of Kimura who was not so easy to destroy.

Nicki recognised the shout from the street below as Hank’s, but she was a little busy. Using her empty gun she pistol whipped the closest hundjager and his smug snarling face before dropping the empty gun entirely and pulling out the dagger that she’d strapped to her inner thigh. Stabbing a hundjager in the neck she side stepped the arterial blood spray as she pulled the blade free. Spinning on the spot she felt claws pulling at her clothes and skin and she thrust the knife back, gutting another of her attackers. Grabbing his gun Nicki turned it on his comrades, killing as many as she could. Offended by her lack of cooperation several hundjagers rushed her, trying to force her submission. Lashing out they drew blood. Nicki could feel the hands and claws grabbing at her, pulling her into the group that surrounded her. Feeling the rising tide of panic within, and her energy ebbing away Nicki took a chance. Forcing herself to go limp she dropped to the floor, forcing the Verrat to part, and giving her enough space to roll, putting space between her and them. It was nothing more than a pause, but it was enough for her to catch her breath, and wipe the blood from her eyes.

Nicki knew that the only reason she wasn’t dead was that they needed to take her alive. They were holding back. And while she was getting tired, they were getting impatient. In the far distance the wail of sirens only added to their urgency. On the opposite roof Sean and Kimura hammered away at each other, leaving a trail of blood and destruction in their wake. Sean was eager to end this fight so that he could get to Nicki who was still out numbered. Somewhere in the fight he'd lost his coat and jacket, the sleeves of his shirt shredded and blood stained. Another advance of Verrat had Nicki realising that if they weren’t allowed to kill her then Kimura probably wouldn’t be allowed to kill her either and he was one assailant that could do with holding back. Determined to change up the fight, Nicki gave herself as much space as she could. She then took a running jump and leapt off her roof onto the one Sean and Kimura was on. Using the bodies of the dead Verrat to break her fall she took out Kimura as she landed.

Leaving the Verrat who followed her to Sean’s less than tender mercies, Nicki grabbed Kimura by the collar and pinned him to the floor. Issuing a series of vicious blows she lived the rage that grew inside her.

“You killed my parents,” punching him across the face. Kimura laughed through a spray of blood and spittle. “Reed and Kelly Burkhardt. Tell me why.”

With a strength she hadn’t seen coming Kimura flipped them, pinning Nicki. Wrapping his hand around her throat Kimura squeezed.

“You are the Grimm. Where are the coins?”

“Farley Kolt.”

“Kolt doesn’t have them.”

“He lied,” she gasped the words out.

“I think it’s you who lies,” Kimura leaned on her a little more, Nicki could feel herself gasping for air, her lungs burning. This was not what she’d had in mind when taking him on. It seemed she’d made a miscalculation. Kimura didn’t care if she lived or died.

From where she lay prone on the ground Nicki could see that Sean had ripped some metal pipe off the side of the building and was using it to bash his way through the remaining hundjager. He was trying to get to her. The view of Sean suddenly span as Kimura lifted her up and tossed her against the outside of the building. Suddenly with her body balanced precariously on the edge, Nicki found herself upside down, the hands around her neck were the only thing stopping her from falling. The broad vista of the snowy street, with Hank and Wu, and a gathering crowd, filled the whole of her view. There were voices yelling from above and below but all Nicki could hear was the pounding of her own heart in her ears. She felt strength surge through her body but there was nothing to hold onto, no anchor that she might push off from to release her from Kimura’s grip without sending her falling down four storeys.

“Where are the coins?” Kimura asked.

Nicki remained stubbornly silent. Grabbing hold of Kimura she was comforted by the idea that if she went then he was coming with her. She would make Sean safe and avenge her parents death all in one go. Without warning a hundjager flew overhead and dropped like a stone into the street. The fall was broken by a car, sending up the wail of an alarm that drowned out the arriving police sirens.

Just as suddenly the world span again and Nicki was upright and collapsing onto the cold stone of the roof. Sean now standing between her and Kimura who was sprawled semi-conscious on the floor in front of her. A snarl from a hundjager was suddenly cut off by the sudden crack of a snapping neck.

“I’m sorry I’m late my friend,” a man with a heavy German accent stood beside Sean, he tossed the hundjager he’d just killed over the wall after his comrade.

Nicki sensed Kimura’s awakening before she saw it. As the schakel roused himself from the floor, sprinting for an escape, Nicki threw herself towards him. Shaking her off she watched as the German knocked him down again with an impressive spinning kick. Sean then finished him off with a single powerful punch. Whipping her handcuffs out of the cleavage of her dress Nicki cuffed Kimura, first to himself and then to some iron work on the building. He was going no where.

“Time to end this,” the hundjager in charged barked the orders.

“We couldn’t agree more,” Nicki said getting to her feet.

Taking her place between Sean and the German, Nicki was starting to like the odds. There were four hundjagers left and from the looks of it they held more injuries. Plus she and Sean had a fresh fighter who clearly had no problem with violence.

Rushing at each other fists flew, teeth snarled, flesh was torn, blood flew into the air only to freeze before it hit the ground. The hundjager in charge tried to grab her, tried to separate Nicki and salvage some kind of success from the carnage, but she resisted throwing him instead into the heart of the melee. Her counter attack lacked finesse but it had the desired effect. The Hundjager dropped unconscious, the last of the group to fall. The end came quickly.

An eerie silence settled for a moment, holding back the screaming sirens of the cop cars that had finally arrived in the street below. Then all the noise and realisation rushed back in. Nicki caught Sean’s eye. They truly did have a lot to talk about. She took in what she could of his wesen face, injured like the rest of him, before he put it away. They were bloodied, injured and surrounded by the dead. And back-up was on its way. 

“I must go. They cannot find me here.”

“Thank you,” Sean held out his hand and the two men shook. “And I know, you were never here.”

“May I at least know your name?” Nicki turned to the life saving stranger. She finally had a chance to really commit his face to memory. “Even though you were never here.”

“Meisner,” he offered Nicki his hand too. She was struck by his intelligent gaze that was full of sadness. When she would let go he held on. “I have some information for you. For both of you. We’ll speak soon.”

And then he was gone. He would disappear quickly along the roofs and then melt invisible into the city that was laid out around them. Nicki’s gaze moved from the view to the many dead bodies. She found that now her life was not in immediate danger she was asking lots of questions about who sent and financed these people, because this was no small operation. And then there was the question as to why someone would want her so badly. Was being a Grimm so valuable to some people? Or was she nearly a means to an end as Kimura would have her; nothing more than a way to get to the coins. And the key. Most of all she wondered if all this death and destruction was worth it.

For Sean this had been an attack at the heart of his territory and as he looked out onto his city he wondered what would come next. As the adrenaline wore off and the pain inched forward, something itched at the back of his mind, some piece of information that being in this place wanted him to know. That he was surveying his domain, with his Grimm at his side, who was still at his side after his wesen revelation, was a privilege he could only appreciate. They faced and defeated a mighty enemy, the evidence of their triumph surrounding them. However, the many dead Verrat were also evidence of the threat his brother posed. As much as Sean wanted this to be the end, he knew it was just the beginning. Sean felt Nicki’s hand creep into his and he wondered if she truly understood the nature of what was coming for her, and if she, or any of them, would survive it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you, thank you, thank you for your continued interest, your reads, kudos, bookmarks etc, and of course your kind comments. It means so much.
> 
> Also, I noticed a couple of typos in the previous chapter so I promise I will go back and fix them. Sorry I didn't get it right the first time ;) and I'm sorry if any errors have crept in here. I'd blame my editor/beta if I had one.
> 
> And finally... would now be a good time to mention that there will be smut (and lots of it) in the next chapter???


	15. The Longest Day pt1: Darkness & Revelations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Happy New Year! And I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry that its taken me this long to post new chapters. 2020 kicked by butt...

Three A.M. was rarely a good time to be awake. Nicki dropped her ruined dress into an evidence bag and silently farewelled the stunning piece of sartorial indulgence. Having changed into the spare work clothes from her locker, she sat on the bench to do up her boots but couldn’t quite summon up the energy to finish the job. Nicki ached, acutely aware of the beating she’d taken. Amid the grind of her many injuries there was that low level static of her Grimm body healing itself far faster than was human. It was an unwelcome reminder of how ‘other’ she really was. Not entirely human. Not anymore. Not ever maybe. She sank deeper into her exhaustion. It was beginning to feel like she was living just one big long never ending battle. If her new found enemies were trying to wear her down they just might be succeeding.

Pulling herself up Nicki tried to refocus on her boots. She didn’t even look up as the door opened and the reassuring bulk of her partner sank heavily onto the bench beside her. Easing out his leg Hank uttered a suppressed moan of pain.

“Are you sure you’re ok to drive yourself home?” Nicki felt his bone deep sigh like it was her own.

“I’ll be fine,” Hank tried to get up but didn’t make it. His bad knee creaking like an old barn door. “I’m getting too old for this.”

“Never,” Nicki said emphatically. “It's just been one hell of a year."

“You can say that again.” Hank sighed again.

They fell into a few moments of companionable silence, the noises of the too busy precinct outside the door receding. Nicki looked Hank over carefully. His pallor was sweaty and impossibly grey, his eyes dull and watery. His hands shook as he rubbed the pain out of his knee. She’d seen enough junkies in her time to make her think that Hank was going through some sort of withdrawal. It made Nicki more convinced than ever that Hank might be under the influence of something chemical.

“I was slow off the mark tonight. I should have gotten to you sooner.” He said, his voice lacking its usual confidence.

“It’s ok,” sincerity warmed her voice. “It wouldn’t have changed the outcome if you’d been any quicker. Kimura would still have fired wide to lure us onto that roof top. This fight was always going to be on their terms. But we’re all alive, if a little bruised, and the bad guys are in the cells, or on the way to the morgue. It’s a win. Even if it doesn’t completely feel like it.”

“I could have done something if I was a better cop. I used to be a better cop.”

“You’re the best cop I know Hank. And you’re a decent human being too,” Nicki would’ve found his surprise comical if he also didn’t look so lost. She reached over and grabbed his hand. “I know you hate it when I mother-hen you but I think you might be sick. It is flu season. Maybe you just need to crawl into bed for a few days, ignore the phone, ignore people, and get some sleep.”

Nicki doubted it would be that easy but she could hope.

“Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do just need some sleep. Although I’ve been having some weird assed dreams recently. People with dead faces. Dog men. Maybe that’s why I feel like I’m living in a fog.”

Nicki leaned in hard to Hank more worried than ever. Her body warmth leached into him as he felt cold and solid like ice.

“I’ve been thinking about quitting.”

“Don’t.” The idea horrified Nicki.

“It’s not just that I’m tired, there are long stretches of time I just doesn’t remember.” Hank fidgeted as he found the words. “I think I might be losing my mind.”

Nicki turned to Hank and made him look at her. She wanted to make sure that there could be no mistake about what she was saying to him. Her heart broke for him.

“I promise if you were losing your mind, if you were a danger to me, to the job, or to yourself, I would be the first to tell you. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t worried about you. You’ve been in one shitty mood after another recently, but please trust me on this. Don’t resign. You’ll get through this. I’ll make sure you do. Just trust me.”

“I do trust you. Even though I know you’ve been hiding something from me. I thought it might have something to do with the Captain. I thought you were seeing each other.”

“We’re not.”

“You should be,” Hank squeezed the hand that held his. “I know what I saw. The way you were looking at him. You can’t fake that. It was the same way he was looking at you.”

“There are regulations.” She spoke the words more to convince herself than her partner. “It’s complicated.”

“What isn’t,” Hank drew her into a bear hug which she was more than happy to return. “You deserve to be happy Nicki.”

“So do you.” She mumbled somewhere into his shoulder. “Are you? With the new girlfriend I mean?”

“She’s amazing,”

“So you’ve said. You know you haven’t told me her name. If you don’t want to share I understand but…”

“Adalind,” the single word cut through Nicki’s words like a hot, and bloody, knife through butter. “It’s Adalind Schade.”

“I don’t know what to say Hank.” Nicki fell silent.

She couldn’t help it but in that moment she looked away from Hank. His eyes were so hopeful that she would agree but Nicki felt nothing but sick. It made so much sense, and it threw a very dark light over Hank’s recent behaviour. This wasn’t a drug. Adalind literally had Hank under her spell.

“I’m not taking advantage of her.”

“I didn’t think you would, but could she be taking advantage of you?”

“You think that’s the only reason someone like her would be dating someone like me?” Hank blew up.

“Were you not listening to what I just said about you. You’re great. Her, well…”

“Maybe you should just stay out of this. Maybe you really don’t know me, or what I need. If you did you wouldn’t be hiding something from me because I know you are.”

Nicki froze. She knew she could lie, but she didn’t want to. She couldn't tell him everything either. Especially not if there was a possibility that it might reach Adalind’s ears. So all that was left was the grey area of being as honest as she could be.

“You’re right. There is something I’m not telling you. It’s horrifically complicated and involves my family. And quite a few others too I suppose.”

“I thought you trusted me,” Hank looked genuinely hurt that she wasn’t confessing everything to him.

“I do, with my life,” Nicki said emphatically. “But this isn’t just my secret to tell. It has implications for other people. The truth could cost those people their lives. I promise Hank, as soon as I can, I will tell you everything.”

Nicki waited as waves of frustration and irritation emanated from him as he thought about what she’d said. She could only watch him with a sense of growing concern.

“Ok. I can wait.”

“Thanks.” Nicki threw her arms around Hank and gave him the biggest bear hug she could manage. The door opened suddenly. “And I meant what I said Hank. I want you to be happy.”

“Woah. Sorry to interrupt such an obviously touching and heart felt moment.”

“What do you need you Wu?” Nicki asked finally finding the energy to lace up her boots.

“I brought your car back from the crime scene.” Wu tossed Nicki a set of keys.

“Thanks.” Genuinely thankful Nicki had forgotten that it was still on the street and without it she would need a way to get home. After the fight, and after a unit had made its way to the roof tosurvey the scene, she and Sean had escorted Kimura down to a car. Neither of them willing to let him out of their sight.

“And Hank has a visitor.” Wu smirked and Nicki felt the familiar knot in her stomach tighten. “A Miss Adalind Schade.”

Hank was up and out of the door before either of them could stop him. Nicki followed, aware that Wu dogged her every step.

“I assume this is Hank’s new girlfriend.”

“You assume correctly,” Nicki said, her tone making it clear that any more questions were unwelcome. She kept her eyes glued to Hank who’s progress through the crowded squad room only emphasised the limp from his bad knee. The squad room was rarely this full at this time of night but sergeants and beat cops were running up their overtime as the cells below filled up.

“It’s been a busy night,” Wu said answering her curiosity. “I don’t think the bad guys got the memo about Christmas. No goodwill or peace on earth for us. Except Hank.”

Nicki looked on as Adalind threw her arms around Hank, drawing the attention of those around them.

“Don’t you have somewhere else to be Wu?”

“Not right now.”

Nicki continued to watch with her inscrutable detectives gaze as Adalind held Hank’s hand, entwining their fingers, touching palm to palm. The other hand rested on the back his neck, a soft touch but it could easily turn hard. The odd grey pallor ebbed away leaving him flushed and too bright eyed. It was disturbing confirmation that Adalind was the likely cause of Hank’s current predicament. It also made Nicki wonder if the spell required Adalind’s proximity to top it up and keep it working. She made a mental note to ask Monroe and and check the books, and sooner rather than later. This had already gone on long enough.

“Can I assume you don’t like her?”

“She’s a witch.” The words fell from Nicki’s mouth before she could stop them. Wu looked at her like she had grown a second head. Nicki Burkhardt was rarely harsh about people.

“In that case I think the odds of Griffin marrying this one have just gone up.”

“That doesn’t look good Wu.”

“Like your car. Which is a piece of shit by the way.”

“Don’t talk trash about my car. I love my car,”

“There are things falling off and there’s a rattle in the gear stick. Who has a rattle in the gear stick?” Wu jabbered on listing faults and totally missing the look of fear that crossed Nicki’s face too fast for her to bury it.“In short. You need a new car Burkhardt. You should ask the Captain for a raise.”

“And I might just give her one.”

Turning suddenly to find Captain Renard standing right behind them Nicki’s fear disappeared behind a look of surprise. Fear was not something he’d ever seen; not even when she was fighting Hundjagers. Given he could not demand what caused such terror Sean was forced to let it go. For a few moments all three of them stood watching the Chief of Police’s statement to the press on the TV, straining to hear the words over the noise of the room. Together they were a small island of calm amid the chaos. Nicki gave her Captain the once over with a sweeping glance, reassuring herself that he was ok but inevitably her thoughts turned intimate. The memory of his touch seemingly branded into her skin. She stole another glance and once again found him watching her. A flare of desire burned bright in his eyes. It was a need that had only grown stronger, ever since they’d kissed in the restaurant. Sean turned his gaze on Wu, silently dismissing his sergeant.

“I’ll take that,” Wu snatched the dress in the evidence bag from Nicki and made himself scarce.

“How are you feeling?” The Captain asked.

“It’s been quite a night,” Nicki dared a small glance at him. “The start of it was lovely.”

“Yes it was,” Sean said. He dared to lean in just a little closer. “And it's not over yet.”

It took Adalind’s grating laugh to break the moment. Sean, realising who it was in his squad room, scowled. Adalind was openly defying him after he’d thrown her out of the city.

“Hank’s new girlfriend,” Nicki said as if that explained everything.

Sean excused himself and moved quickly into his office. He had calls to make, both official and unofficial. More importantly though, he needed to keep a clear head and close proximity to Nicki Burkhardt did not guarantee him that.

Nicki watched her Captain’s departure feeling as if she had missed something important. On the other hand she could not miss Hank, who seemed only too keen to show off his new girlfriend. She moved towards them. Slowly.

“Nicki. You remember Adalind,” Hank said as he clutched Adalind’s hand.

“Its nice to meet you again,” Almost choking on her words, Nicki found her best fake smile.

“It’s nice to see you too detective,” Adalind tilted her head to one side assessing Nicki’s injuries. “It looks like you’ve had quite a night. So many dead people.”

“Yeah, we killed the bad guys,” Hank puffed out his chest like he’d fought every single one. His earlier vulnerability and doubt were well and truly gone.

“You’re so brave,” Adalind slipped her hand through Hanks arm, holding him close and pressing up against his side. She turned her full attention onto Nicki though. “I hope you don’t mind but I had to come down and make sure Hank was ok.”

“I’m surprised you found out about it so soon,” Nicki said, indicating the TV. “As you can see we’re not releasing any details to the press.

“I have a friend who knows I know Hank. He also knew I would be very concerned with the turn of events.”

“He?” Hank asked, his voice hard with jealousy.

“He’s just a work friend, more of an acquaintance really. No one special. Unlike you,” Adalind pulled Hank down to her level so that she could kiss him, her eyes never leaving Nicki in some silent challenge. Nicki didn’t flinch but silently decided to look into whoever had let Adalind know about the case. She was naturally suspicious of anyone who was friendly with Adalind.

“Hank,” she asked with that simpering sing song voice she had. “I’m a little cold. Do you think you could get me a cup of coffee.”

“Of course Adalind,” Hank bolted for the coffee machine like a man on a mission.

Nicki stepped closer to Adalind. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

“Falling in love. I didn’t know that was against the law detective.”

“I’m only going to say this once.” Nicki lowered her voice so she would not be heard. “Stay out of his life.”

“Did it ever occur to you that this is exactly what it looks like?” Adalind asked.

“Never. You’re a liar.”

“Why? Because I’m not telling Hank everything? It takes one to know one I guess.”

“I’m not going to let this happen.”

“Try and stop it.”

“Is everything ok Adalind?” Hank was back cup of coffee in hand and giving Nicki the stink eye.

“It’s fine Hank. I was just explaining that I actually have some work to do while I’m here. I need to speak to your Captain.”

“What about?” Nicki and Hank asked together. And while Hank sounded jealous, Nicki sounded defensive. She would rip Adalind’s throat out if she went for Sean too. Reflexively her eyes flickered to the Captain’s office only to find him watching her. He was on the phone having what looked like a serious conversation.

“It’s to do with a recent case. Our firm represents the families of Anton Krug and James Wolsey.”

“Those are bad men Adalind,” overly protective Hank slid his arm around her shoulders.

“Are you sure? Because they come from a very good, very prominent family in Europe.”

“They participated in an attempted murder,” Nicki looked at Hank wondering why he wasn’t saying something.

“Maybe they were just innocent bystanders?” Adalind suggested.

“Maybe it would help if their families knew what they were talking about.” Her words were sharp, earning Nicki a look of consternation from Hank.

“But they do know what they’re talking about. Knowledge is the key to everything.” Adalind made sure to put the emphasis exactly where she wanted it and Nicki knew immediately what Adalind wanted. “Maybe if you have another key, I mean idea, you could share it with me.”

It was the way Adalind’s eyes darted to Hank that made Nicki realise that the hexenbeasts interest in her partner had everything to do with her and little to do with Hank. That familiar feeling of nausea and revulsion, the one she felt every time Monroe got hurt on her account, settled in her stomach.

Adalind’s eyes flashed hard as flint. “So Hank, will you wait for me while I go and speak to your Captain? And then you can take me home.”

“Of course Adalind,” Hank’s meek compliance raised Nicki’s blood pressure. She didn’t move though, forcing Adalind to step around her on her way to Sean’s office.

“You might want to wait until the Captain’s finished his phone call,” Nicki advised.

“Of course. I would never go where I wasn’t wanted.”

From the relative safety of his office Sean watched the uneasy group of Hank, Nicki and Adalind with interest and trepidation. The desire for Nicki, the concern for Hank and the pure hatred of Adalind was a heady cocktail. His pulse raced with anger and desire. And he felt flushed, like he was getting sick. He pushed it all to one side. Sean Renard was not a man who would do anything so predictably human as fall ill. He had far too much to do. Adalind's betrayal had cost him dearly, he needed to keep Hank alive, and he had to save his city from whatever take over plans his brother Eric was hatching. And the last couple of days had shown him in stark detail how bad the situation was.

Unknowingly Nicki had revealed the truth to him. The information she‘d given him in the hospital after his shooting had been illuminating. To her GQR industries meant nothing except a break in the Ross case. She couldn’t know that GQR was a cover for his families illegal activities. Or that she’d linked his brother Eric to the criminal activities in Portland dating back a year or more. To her GQR was a mystery. To Sean it was the blunt weapon being wielded for his demise. As he’d stood on the roof top a few hours ago, with Nicki at his side, it had eventually hit him. He’d transposed Nicki’s map of the properties GQR had purchased onto the skyline of Portland. Eric hadn’t just staked a claim to Portland and surrounded the city. Together, the nine properties were strategically perfect for Eric to stage a coup.

Clearly Sean’s position was not as strong as he wanted it to be. He'd travelled as far away from the family as he could get. He’d worked hard to build a base, bringing order to chaos, along with a little justice, and much less fear. It had taken fifteen years or more to shape and build something he was proud of. And he’d kept it away from his fathers benign neglect and disinterest. But Sean was never supposed to live. He was never supposed to thrive or build something that was seen as a potential threat. Now Eric was trying to tear it down and take Sean’s friends and allies with him. Sean would not let that happen. Reaching for his less official phone he dialled the number he knew by heart and waited for the call to connect.

“Oui,” Sebastian answered.

“They tried to kill me again tonight.”

“Then I am relieved you are still alive. You are lucky my friend. Many were not. Paquet is missing. No one has heard from him in three days. And Espindola was found murdered along with his whole family."

“That's unfortunate.” Sean sounded resigned to the fact but he would regret the passing of both. "My brother is making a move on Portland. And soon.”

“Are you sure? His attention has been on trying to shore up the alliance between the families. You were right, it is not as strong as we thought. I have uncovered indications of dissent. His leadership of the seven royal families is about to be challenged. He is eager to hold onto his position of power at any cost.”

“I believe his actions in my city are part of shoring up that alliance. He needs the Grimm and in killing me he hoped to take her alive.”

“Then we must act,”

“I have. I am. And I will continue to do so.”

As he spoke Sean watched Adalind approach the door to his office. Nicki and Hank were watching her too. Stopping outside his door, and with her back to the room, Adalind made a made a great show of watching him as she took her lipstick from her bag and applied it, blowing him a small kiss as she finished. Sean felt his skin crawl. He turned his back on her but kept an eye on her by watching her reflection in his darkened window.

“There are Verrat in the city, although considerably fewer than there were this time yesterday. They are well organised and it occurs to me that Eric must have nominated a Schattenagent. A trusted representative to achieve his goals.”

“Adalind?”

“I doubt it. But I have another name for you to look into. Everett Jones, He’s the assistant DA. Eric’s plans have benefitted greatly from his involvement. Jones also has many connections useful to my brother.”

“We should also consider that Eric’s mother may be helping him.”

“My demise has always been the Queen's greatest hope.” Sean’s voice dripped with sarcasm.

“Meanwhile your father, The King, is once more wondering if he chose the right son as his heir.”

“A contemplation that will no doubt only fuel Eric’s determination. And his mothers hatred.”

“I'll find out everything I can.”

“As will I.” With that the line went dead.

As soon as he pocketed the phone Adalind knocked on the door and entered. She closed the door behind her.

“I told you to get out of my city.”

“That’s the problem right there Sean. You still think you can tell me what to do. Of course the other problem is you still think Portland is yours.”

Sean kept silent, and kept his council. Best they think he remain ignorant of their plans.

“What? Grimm got your tongue? Poor Sean. Maybe I should kiss it better.”

“I assume you didn’t come here just to be unpleasant.”

“Not at all. I came to give you this,” Adalind handed over the impeccable paperwork. “The investigation into Krug and Wolsey stops now. This is proof of their diplomatic status. Which makes them untouchable.”

“So the family is keen to avoid a scandal as usual,” Sean said dryly, dropping the paperwork onto his desk.

“You should be grateful Sean. You won’t have to arrest yourself for their murder.” Adalind smiled again, she was enjoying this far too much.

“I assume you want the bodies released.”

“They deserve a proper burial.”

“Like the one we’re going to give Hank when you kill him?”

“He doesn’t have to die Sean. You know that,”

Sean leaned back against the frame of the window.

“Would you and Eric also like the bodies of the Verrat that Nicki and I fought and killed tonight?”

“Officially, we have no idea what you mean. Unofficially, I knew I smelled blood on you” Sean watched her eyes turned dark and her entire body language changed, leaning towards him from across the desk. “You always were magnificent after violence.”

“Is that message straight from my brother?”

“That’s from me. Consider it an indication that I’m willing to offer you my forgiveness,” she paused for a moment, looking back at Hank and Nicki who were both openly watching them from the distance. “All you have to do is beg for it.” Adalind looked Sean dead in the eye. "And kill the Grimm.”

“We both know Eric wouldn’t approve of that.”

“He couldn’t stop it if it was an ‘accident’.”

“Get out of my office Adalind.”

“Just your office? I thought you wanted me out of the city.”

“Get out of my office, get out of my city, and get out of my life. Just get out,”

“Poor Sean. Just one more thing before I go. Don’t worry, I’m not going to repeat myself. You already know what I think, and you already know what I intend to do. What I have to say comes from your brother and this is it. His highness wants you to consider tonight the opening salvo. He’s coming for you, and the Grimm, and anyone else who gets in his way. Unless you stop it. You have one more day to give us what we want.”

“And if I don’t?”

“Then this is the beginning of the end.” Adalind smiled and opened the door. "Your phone is ringing.”

No sooner had she left than Sean scooped up his phone, the one he had just called Sebastian on. His gaze remaining on Adalind as she drifted back to Hank and Nicki, shooting him one last look over her shoulder.

“Yes,”

“It’s me,” the familiar European tones of Meisner filtered through the phone. “Can you talk?”

“Thank you for your assistance last night.”

“It was good to finally meet the Grimm.” Meisner spoke with no small amount of respect in his voice. “She was impressive from afar, to fight along side her was something else. It explains why your brother is not the only one who wants to control her.”

“This is what you wanted to talk about.” Sean’s phone beeped indicating a message had been received. The sight of Sergeant Wu moving across the squad room with purpose and speed distracted him for only a moment. A photo filled the screen, a young woman of about 30, pretty in a rather ordinary way, surrounded by animals.

“Who is she? I don’t recognise her.”

Meisners silence was ominous.

“That is the real Juliette Silverton.”

Sean felt an ice cold rage fill him. He’d met Nicki’s room mate in passing a couple of times and this was not her. He’d even investigated her and he’d found nothing. He had failed, both himself and in protecting Nicki.

“So who is the woman Nicki’s been living with?”

“That is what I have still to find out. I wouldn’t have found the anomaly at all if it hadn’t been for the smallest of details. The deception is well planned and highly funded.”

“Clearly it's someone who’s willing to play a long game. It certainly isn’t someone working for my brother. Eric doesn’t have the patience to have someone so close and not make a move.”

“So the question becomes why are they willing to wait?” Meisner paused. “Will you tell her?”

“Nicki? Of course,”

“Then I leave it with you. And take care. I was followed as I left last night. Verrat."  
“Perhaps hoping you will lead them to Ian Harmon.” Sean listened to Meisner’s familiar and vaguely angry silence. “You should know the Verrat agent tasked with finding him has been in Portland for days. He asked for my help and I respectfully declined. His name is Waltz, Edgar Waltz.”

“The situation is more dangerous than I thought.”

Whatever Sean was about to say died. His attention pulled away from the call. Time suddenly seemed to slow. Wu had reappeared, all speed and urgency, cutting a direct line towards him. A few words to Nicki had her sprinting out of the squad room and heading for the stairs to the holding cells. In the distance, Adalind steered Hank towards the exit, a parting look of triumph and satisfaction thrown over her shoulder toward him.

“Stay alive my friend.”

“You too.”

The phone went dead in Sean’s hand as there was a sudden rap on the door. Wu entered without being bidden.

“Sir. We need you down in the holding cells. Now.”


	16. The Longest Day pt 2: The dawn light comes creeping

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and finally some smut!!

Nicki stepped into Sean’s home listening as he closed and locked the door behind them. Held motionless in silence, both exhausted, neither were inclined to talk. The events of the preceding hours weighed heavily on them both. Kimura was dead. So was the third man. It was a truth that clung to them like dirt. A truth so large it seemed to take form and mass. Nicki wondered where it had all gone to hell. A few hours ago they’d faced down the bad guys and won. Yet their victory had been painfully short lived. There would be no answers, not about last nights attack; and not about her parents murder. The loss of the opportunity hurt in a way that she had never felt before. A suffocating ache of disappointment and self recrimination. In the end it all happened so fast. Wu had reported the fight in the holding cells. Less than 20 minutes later, five cops and over a dozen detainees had needed medical support. Another four detainees were dead; Kimura, the third man and the men who’d killed them. No one was labouring under the illusion that this was a coincidence. This was planned.

Kimura and the third man were the loose ends that had been neatly tied up. It was their masters who remained at liberty; and who remained a danger. The continued threat, along side the deaths on police premises, were why Sean and Nicki had been ordered home. The Chief, still present after the press conference, had taken charge and had shot down every one of Captain Renard’s protestations. Nicki, familiar with her Captain, could see the frustration written on his face. There was genuine anger at being shut out. In the end though they had both been powerless to do anything other than follow orders. And that included the Chief’s orders that they continue to stick together. With the ongoing threat they were to continue the ruse of an illicit relationship for protection, and because they had bad guys to catch. Who knew if they were being watched.

Nicki willed herself to move but the exhaustion defeated her. The news about Juliette, who wasn’t Juliette, had been the final kick in the teeth. Just thinking about it made her burn with anger and humiliation. To her shame a single tear escaped. She dashed it away, wanting to obliterate the useless show of emotion. She had been living with the enemy. She could not change the past, she could only deal with the problem it left her with. Nicki forced herself to take in one more shaky breath, and listened to the sound of Sean shedding his coat.

Sean watched as Nicki stood in the foyer of his home, not moving, barely breathing, and totally unaware of the strength that remained in every line of her body, even under the layers of fatigue. He inched closer to her, reaching out to her, the caress of his fingertips alerting her to his presence. She turned towards him and stepped into his arms in one go.

Sean crowded Nicki up against the door. He kissed her soundly and she responded in kind, pressing her body against his. It was a perfect, breathless moment that she wanted to last forever. Nicki wrenched her mouth away from his.

“I’m beginning to think you have a fetish for this doorway,” Nicki gasped through her need to breathe.

“I have fond memories of this door.” Sean leaned down and kissed her again, a soft gentle brief passing of lips. His smile wolfish and unapologetic as he pulled away.

Nicki leaned into him, keeping her eyes locked on his. Sean was so warm, heat emanating off him that soaked into her, making her relax. She wondered exactly how she could have missed the truth of him for so long. She could understand not knowing that he was Wesen before she became a Grimm. An absence of powers would have kept his secret safe, but she had been a Grimm for months and still she hadn’t sensed him. Or maybe this was her fault. Nicki had spent a long time keeping Sean Renard at arms length, afraid that he was dangerous for her equilibrium. It had failed. She wanted him more now than she’d ever done.

Slowly Nicki reached up, searching his face for any sign of what she missed. Entirely human and entirely closed off, every line of tension in his face was unreadable. The softest touch had him wanting to move away, part of him afraid she might hurt him; afraid that she might reject him. Nicki’s heart broke a little for that. She understood it. She lived it. Gently she put her hand against his face, the tips of her fingers tracing where the Zauberbiest broke through.

“Show me again,” she said, her voice so gentle it was almost a whisper.

Sean hesitated. Willing curiosity usually gave way to revulsion and denial, but he was not a man who ever backed down from what was difficult or unsavoury. And yet still he held back. This was no dark roof top where details could be lost in the heat of battle. This was his own home, and there would be nowhere to hide from the golden illumination of the glowing lamplight.

“Please.”

Untethering his inner ‘biest Sean woged. Letting the wild side out his face broke into the scarred and twisted visage. He waited for her to recoil but her gaze never wavered. Her hand remained exactly where it was against his face, her fingertips never moved from the twisted gnarled flesh that seemed to burn with Hells embers. Standing as close as she was Nicki became aware of other, less visible, changes. There was an energy and a strength that seemed to pour out of him and his already impressive physique hardened beneath her touch to pure steel and raw power.

“Does it hurt?”

“Not really. It’s a sensation you get used to.”

“So you’re a Hexenbiest.”

“Actually the correct term is a Zauberbiest and I’m technically only half. My mother,” Nicki nodded indicating her understanding as Sean changed back into himself.

She noted his reluctance. Sean was not a man who shared personal information easily. Less so his history. However, like it or not, his mother was a topic of conversation they would have to discuss again at some point. Beyond the matter of his heritage, she was also linked to the situation with Marie Kessler and the secret that even Kessler herself dared not speak.

“Thank you. For trusting me with this,” Nicki moved her other hand into one of Sean’s that hung tense at his side. Only then did she lean up and kiss the same patch of flesh her fingertips had rested upon only moments before.

“So you know what I am. That I’m a Grimm,” Nicki said.

“I do,” he watched her.

“How long have you known?”

Sean drew in a long breath. Trust Nicki to ask the one question that went straight to the heart of the matter.

“I’ve known you would become a Grimm for years. Since long before your aunt died and you started to come into your powers. I knew who she was. Marie Kessler. I met her once. As did my mother. It was a long time ago.”

“So why didn’t you tell me sooner?” There was no reproach, only curiosity in her question.

“It never seemed like a good time, or the right time.”

“Is there anything else? Any more secrets you want to share?” No sooner was the question pulled out of her mouth than she regretted it. “Actually don’t answer that. I should never ask a question I wouldn’t want to answer myself. We all have secrets. Especially me. And maybe now is not the best time to examine them.”

With extreme relief, Sean drew her closer, the burning need leaping into flame again. He kissed the top of her head and, as she turned her face up to look at him, he took possession of her mouth. He took what he so badly needed, her whimpers of arousal as sweet as the taste of her lips. Holding her to him the long line of her body, with its soft delicious curves, found the perfect connection between them, resting against the hard weight of his arousal. Desperation had her hands pulling at his shoulders, needing him ever closer, the heat of him felt even through layers of clothes. Hands collided with injuries but it was a pain they were both willing to endure.

Sean conquered her with yet another savage kiss, his fate utterly dependent on the woman he held in his arms. The feverish warmth that had filled him for hours seemed to burst into flame. Meeting him touch for touch Nicki knew nothing else mattered in that moment. Everything that was broken melted away beneath his touch. Burying her face in her shoulder, Nicki breathed in the deeply masculine scent of him, licked at the salt skin that made her hunger for more. Nipping at the corded muscles she found there.

“Take me to bed Sean.”

The whispered supplication turned her world to a blur. Swept up into his arms as he carried her through to his bedroom, colliding with each other and the walls as they moved and kissed and touched all at once. They could not bear to be apart. Every kiss ruined a little more of their restraint. Every caress fanned the fire of their need. Sean felt like a man possessed, and only Nicki Burkhardt could satisfy the soul deep hunger.

With more luck than judgement they tumbled onto his bed. Cool sheets were quickly disordered as they fought for dominion over each other. Questing hands mapped each other’s bodies. Their bodies collided, small fractions of bare skin found in gaps between clothing sending sparks of sensation rocketing through them both. Finding Sean beneath her, his hips cradled between her own, Nicki moved her hips, rolling them slowly to feel the erection confined inside his trousers. She had missed this, just as she had missed him. She swallowed the gasp of need, biting her lip against a moan of pure pleasure. Pulling her to him Sean thrust up adding agonising pressure to the throbbing seam of her sex. A kiss removed her lip from between her teeth.

“I want to hear you,” he said thrusting up once more. “Don’t hide from me Nicki, l want to hear you scream. I’m going to make you scream. For me.”

Forcing her to look at him, his fingers threaded through her hair, Sean looked her in the eye locking her gaze to his, their harsh breaths mingling before he robbed her of breath entirely. His pupils were dilated, his eyes wide in the half darkness of the room. In his gaze was a universe of desire, and the thousand things he wanted to do to her and with her. Sean pulled her down towards him, all distance unendurable. His kisses devouring every beat of her heart.

Suddenly being clothed was intolerable for them both. She fought to strip him. She wanted him naked, and she needed to feel and touch every inch of him. Her hands brushed the front of his trousers. Her touch was a jolt of lightening. With a burning desire of his own, Sean rolled her, pinning Nicki to the bed beneath him. Grinding down into the heat of her Sean sought his own stimulation. Her legs wrapped themselves around his waist. They groaned with the satisfaction of being so close. She revelled in his arousal, grew bold against the evidence of his need, and feeling her own in return. Insinuating her hands beneath his shirt Nicki mapped the rippling flex of undulating muscle along the length of his back. She pressed kiss after kiss to his jaw and throat, even as she heard the wrenching tear of fabric and the pop of strained buttons as Sean tore his own shirt from his body.

Taking advantage of the moment Nicki rolled them again. As she reared upright Sean followed. Suddenly Sean found himself sitting on the edge of the bed, shirtless, with a lap full of Nicki Burkhardt. With the broad expanse of his chest laid out for her Nicki chased kisses across his skin. The soft salt of his skin clung to her lips as she traced the warm lines of muscles and tendons, softness and steel. He had done his best earlier to clean up but there were marks from the earlier battle his body had not yet healed. Tracing each one with gentle fingers, her kisses light and teasing turned desperate and needy. Sean held on to her tight, his broad hands spanning her waist, driving her down into his need. Something in the back of his mind told him that this wasn’t right but her gentle seduction had cast him adrift. Once more her hand grazed his throbbing erection pushing him closer to the edge.

“Nicki,” Sean growled out. He was not going to embarrass himself. Nor was he going to find his own satisfaction until he’d wrung every last fraction of pleasure from her body that he could find.

“Hold on,” she said stealing a quick kiss. He felt her smile against his lips just as felt the contact between their most sensitive parts increase.

Leaning back Nicki trusted that he would not drop her. It would be an exquisite torture that she was to inflict though. Holding onto her forced Sean to watch. To let go would either cause her to fall, or force her to stop the striptease to rebalance herself. Nicki grabbed the hem of her sweater and pealed away the layers leaving only her bra. Sheer and seductive it was what she had been wearing under her dress. For a moment her boldness evaporated seeing his gaze flicker to one of the fresh injuries. Nicki had her own battle scars, new and old, and for a moment she thought to be ashamed of being less than perfect. Seeing the shadow cross her face Sean drew Nicki to him, holding her tight as he returned her earlier consideration and mapped her wounds with mouth and fingers, his breath a soothing balm over damaged flesh.

“You’re beautiful,” he said kissing her. “Beautiful.”

Tracing the edge of her bra, his mouth latched around her perfect nipple, devouring it as he had devoured her kisses. Her already hard nipples puckered further under his careful attentions.

“Sean,” she whispered his name like a benediction, her pupils blown wide and breathing rapid.

Her breathless pleading called to him like a sirens song. As enticing as her lingerie was Sean removed the offending garment. Finally naked, skin to skin, his mouth latched onto a stiff pink nipple once more as his fingers toyed with the other. Nicki had dreamed about this, the delicious agony of his touch. She could feel herself edging closer to her release, his stubble rasping the sensitive skin of her neck and breasts, his teeth nipping and sucking. Impossible to stay still she arched into his touch. She ground down into his lap, and into the hard line of his erection. Nicki rocked against him, seeking release from the exquisite torture and yet never wanting it to end. Threading her fingers into his hair she captured his mouth. She was so desperately close to release. Then the world span.

Laying Nicki out beneath him Sean lay a trail of kisses from her already swollen mouth, and down her throat. He lingered at her breasts, his mouth leaving her nipples damp from his kisses, only to tease Nicki exquisitely as he blew across them, the flesh contracting, drawing a sobbing moan of need from somewhere deep inside her. Travelling lower Sean sank to his knees beside the bed. Pulling her boots off, Sean found the fastenings on her jeans, peeling it all away with the scrap of black lace panties, to leave Nicki deliciously naked. Laid out for his enjoyment and hers Sean wanted to make her weak with pleasure and raise her whispers to a scream.

Inexorably he slid his hand from her ankle all the way up her leg. His broad shoulders insinuated between her thighs spreading them wide, opening her to his gaze. He looked at her with such intent that Nicki found all thoughts and words and breath seemed to stop. Time itself stopped as Sean fixed his laser sharp focus entirely upon her. His gentle touch skimmed over her body, soothing her even as it lit her up from inside. She felt alive beneath his touch, a warmth and confidence burning deep in her belly. She wanted to doubt herself but she couldn’t. Not when Sean looked at her that way. Kissing his way along her inner thigh towards her sex she watched as he sucked a mark into her flesh, claiming her as his.

“Please,” she implored, her hips pulsing with need. Her own restless fingers traced the trail his kisses left across her body. Her fingers reaching to tease her own nipples. “Sean. Please. Please. I need you.”

Laid out and looking at him as if he was a good man Nicki was wet, glistening with want. The weight of his own arousal was an uncomfortably distraction, but one Sean refused succumb to just yet. Too much to resist Sean pressed his mouth to her core, devouring her and her cry of pleasure.

“Fuck, Sean. So good,”

Hooking his hands around her thighs Sean pulled her closer. His tongue questing a line of sensation before drinking her deeper. Draping one leg over his shoulder, Sean pushed the other back towards Nicki’s body, opening her up to him even more. Since that first night when they had taken each other without a second thought Sean had planned the moment when he would be allowed to take it slow. He wanted to savour her, and learn how each of his touches could make her fall over the edge. This though was quick, and unrelenting. He was chasing her pleasure, determined to prove himself. She was so deliciously wet, so responsive, so utterly aroused. Her hands clutched at his as he held her fast, it was simultaneously too much and not enough. Her climax hit her suddenly, Nicki cried out, her words unformed, arching beneath him, her body going rigid as wave after wave of orgasm pulled at her body.

Sinking boneless into the soft sheets Nicki felt her body growing hot and tight again almost immediately. Sean allowed her no time to recover, his face still buried between her thighs, his fingers joining the assault on her body.

“Sean,” she uttered his name in three staccato breaths. “Sean, please, I need…,”

Nicki wasn’t sure what she needed, the words stayed locked inside as one of his beautiful long fingers ghosted over her hard slick clit. Thrusting deep the digit found the spot that made her writhe and gasp. Nicki wanted to both escape it and force it deeper for greater pleasure.

Sean could feel every tremor that wreaked her body, every jagged breath was his. Slipping another finger inside her, his mouth latched on to her clit. Slowly he let his fingers glide in and out of her, unhurried, but deep. It was an unrelenting sensual onslaught. Pressing and rolling inside of her, rubbing small slow circles against the engorged sensitive flesh. He devoured her cunt, and he would be happy to die having tasted such ecstasy. Giving herself up to the pleasure it didn’t take much before the wave Nicki was riding crested and broke, another orgasm washing over her. She came against his mouth with a scream. Sean sank his fingers deep inside and held them there, revelling in the clutch and pull of her body, letting her ride the wave of pleasure. His rock hard cock twitching in sympathy as he longed to be inside her. He watched her as she gasped for breath, the rapid rise and fall of her breasts. Falling back into herself Nicki found Sean watching her.

Finding his feet Sean stood up, his hands going to the fly of his trousers but no further, arrested by the view he had of Nicki. She was laid out on the bed, relaxed, trusting, evidence of her recent orgasms glistened across her thighs, and the swollen lips of her pussy. She did nothing to hide from his gaze. It was an image he wanted to commit to memory. Convinced Sean was taking too long Nicki found strength in her desire. Sitting up she freed him from his clothes, finding him hard and leaking, his cock flushed purple and hot to the touch. This was what she had remembered and hungered for. She wrapped her hand around his shaft and pumped it once, slowly, her hand making one long draw from root to tip.

“Nicki...” there was a strong note of warning in his voice.

Her only response was her smile. Looking up at him through shadowed lashes Nicki slowly took his cock deep into her mouth. Every bit as generously proportioned as she remembered, her mouth stretched wide around the flared head. Her eyes fluttered closed, momentarily savouring the taste of him before returning her gaze to his face. Noting every one of his reactions, she determined to learn his body just as he had learned hers.

Licking a stripe along the broad length left Sean breathing as if he’d just run a marathon. He shuddered with pleasure as her tongue flicked around the head. Beneath her hands she felt him hold back, the long strain of muscles that he wanted to move but dare not. Swallowing around him Sean spilt a little into her mouth, the taste of him was everything she thought it would be. Releasing him from her mouth Nicki offered Sean a small reprieve before taking him as deep as she could. She felt the exact moment he stopped breathing and that all coherent thought ceased.

Tangling his fingers in her hair Sean held on, keeping her close, as she worked his cock with her mouth and tongue, her hands stroking his thighs. He willed himself to stay still but no amount of control could stop him from bucking into her mouth and chasing his pleasure. Throwing his head back Sean sucked in air. He could feel his baser, wilder, side trying to rise. Inching closer, his balls heavy, he pulled her away sharply.

“Enough,” he growled. “I need to be inside you.”

“Yes,” Nicki said, agreeing totally.

Moving her further onto the bed Sean buried himself inside her in one swift movement. His cock was thick and hard inside her, a still and seemingly hot intrusion, stretching her exquisitely. Wrapped up in him, surrounded by Sean Renard, there was nowhere else Nicki wanted to be. Holding himself taught Sean had never felt anything like it; lightening ran all over his skin. Nothing had ever felt this good. Nothing had both satisfied him and left him wanting more. Seizing on her mouth again, he locked them in a deep kiss as all other restraint fell away. Drawing back slowly he returned, sinking as deep into her as he could. Whispering her name, he moaned his need, muffling it in the cradle of her shoulder. Once more he retreated, then he drove back into her body, hard, fast. Then all restraint broke. Unable to hold back Sean pounded into her, over and over and over again, their harsh breaths and harsh bodies seeking only pleasure, as they clung on to each other.

Sean _throbbed._ Riding her hard, his thrusts were powerful and merciless, lifting and impaling her on his erection over and over. She felt every flex of his muscles. A slight twist of his hips and Nicki’s eyes flew wide with the new intensity, a silent scream pulling her apart. Nicki could’t think of anything but it's clear she will never be the same again.

“Come for me,” Sean begged. “Just once more Nicki. Come for me.”

Nicki doubted she could but Sean reached down, the lightest of touches ghosting over her clit and once more light exploded, her body stiffened and he too hit his peak. Clutching at Sean she felt the deep points of contact where her fingers curled into the solid muscle of his back, holding onto him as he relentlessly fucked her through her orgasm, the erratic clutch of her body drawing him on. Sean comes hard. Feeling the hot rush of his cum deep inside her Nicki hears the roar as Sean cannot contain the wesen side anymore. For a second he woges, she can feel the warmth against her skin, the way his body changes as he sinks into her.

Taking time to recover themselves. Nicki’s limp touch is reassuring, her gentle fingertips soothing him as Sean finds himself again in her arms. Placing a kiss to the corner of his mouth Nicki doesn’t care that he is crushing her beneath him, instead finding the weight reassuring. Sean though cares more for her comfort. Rolling to one side Sean isn’t ready to let go of Nicki yet. Pulling her to him, Sean rearranges them both under the covers. He has a need to hold her close, feeling the tremors in her body. Kissing her, he steals what little breath she has.

“We should sleep,” Nicki said, placing a line of kisses across Sean’s shoulder.

“Later,” he smiles. “We’ll sleep later.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Apologies as always for any errors that may have crept in - I have no beta so it seems inevitable that some errors sneak in...  
> Also Thank you for your patience between updates. And thank you as always for the kind comments, kudos, bookmarks etc. I love you guys and I want to make this as good as it can be for you all... I will be back with more very soon.


	17. The Longest Day Pt 3: If one door closes and another one opens your house is probably haunted…

Nicki woke to the insistent ringing of her phone. The sound swam towards her through a haze of sleep, endorphins and a mist of watery winter daylight. Time, both as a concept and a reality, had become fuzzy around the edges, however the clock on the nightstand told her it was a few minutes after 9am. She knows immediately that she’s not in her own bed. The sheets are too soft and there is the warm mass of Sean Renard laid out beside her, the fine bedlinen barely covering his modesty. Lost to a deep sleep he's flushed, and impossibly aroused. Nicki applauds his stamina but her legs still feel weak from their last go around in the shower. She aches deliciously, and her kiss swollen lips literally tingle. She’s never been so thoroughly fucked. Or loved. It makes Nicki yearn for something she never knew existed.

She wants to reach out and touch him but suddenly Nicki feels like it would be too intimate; An intrusion into a space she doesn’t belong in. Her hope falters. So much so that she doesn’t even try to hold onto it. She’s not that kind of girl, or Grimm, that will get a happy ending. Family history is very clear; isolation or a premature death are the likely resolution of her future. Nicki wants nothing more than to cast aside her doubts and curl up beside him, but Sean Renard is not hers. At least he doesn’t feel like hers. But it doesn’t stop her wanting him with every fibre of her being.

When her phone stops ringing only to start ringing again almost immediately she latches on to it like a life line. Answering a phone call is something she can do. Nicki peers over the side of the bed in the rough direction of where it howls to get her attention. It’s then that she realises that her phone is still in her jeans pocket and her jeans are on the floor some distance away. Slipping from the bed as carefully as she can Nicki scoops up her clothes and answers the phone.

“Monroe?” Her attention only half on the call, the other lingers on Sean who remains asleep and aroused, and somehow out of reach.

“We need your help man. I’m with Rosalee at the Spice Shop. The two junkies who broke in and killed Freddie are here.”

“Can you get out?” Nicki asked pulling on her clothes as quickly as she could.

“We’re trapped in the basement. We need the cavalry if you catch my drift.” Monroe’s whisper was barely audible over the sound of things being broken and trashed in the background. “They are high as kites and dangerous as hell.”

“I’m on my way.”

***

Her blue light raged all the way to the Spice Shop. Driving with more speed than was wise on snow covered streets Nicki cut the siren the closer she drew. Focussed on preventing more deaths, and determined to make an arrest, Nicki threw her car into park and jumped out. The patrol car keeping watch out front was suspiciously empty. Swearing under her breath Nicki found the front doors of the store locked. Making her way around back Nicki immediately saw the unconscious body of Officer Flores in the alley. Face down in the snow Nicki knelt beside him and felt for a pulse. She was relieved when she found the steady thrum of a heart beat. A quick sweep of her fellow officer found no serious injuries and confirmed his service weapon was missing. Calling dispatch for back up and an EMT Nicki swapped her coat for his handcuffs and continued quickly forward.

Slipping into the open rear door of the spice shop Nicki quickly and silently swept the room for any hidden threats. Moving on into the main shop she did the same, all the while listening to the sounds of violent destruction rising out of the cellar. Reaching the top of the stairs, Nicki adjusted her grip on her gun. Deciding on speed over stealth she made her quick descent.

“Stop. Portland PD.” Nicki raised her voice and her gun and aimed right at them. Immediately the two skalengeks spotted her. So strung out they were woging in and out of their human and wesen forms like a stutter.

One of them raised officer Flores’ a gun and fired at her. The bullet sailed wide, doing nothing more than showering her in plaster dust. Pulling the trigger again, Nicki braced for another shot, but thanked the gods when the gun jammed. Tossing the useless weapon aside they looked for an exit only to find it suddenly blocked by an angry blutbad.

“You need to stop. Stay where you are,” Nicki barked the order at the intruders but figuring a cop was better than a blutbad they barrelled towards her. They realised too late that she was a Grimm, but choice made, they kept on coming. 

Grabbing one by an arm Monroe threw the guy into the wall, knocking him out, as Nicki grappled with the other. Knocking him to the ground Nicki wrestled him into handcuffs. Still high and angry he pulled against the cuffs, still fitting in and out of his woge.

“Fuck you man,”

“It’s fuck you Detective actually,” Nicki moved over and put Flores’ cuffs on the unconscious accomplice while he was still out cold. “At least you left his arms on this time.”

“There’s still time to rip them off,” Monroe’s glare shut the conscious one up at last. Finally the blutbad faded away into the dishevelled human form.

“Are you ok?”

“I’m fine,” Monroe said “I thought you had a cop outside so this couldn’t happen.”

“Flores is lying unconscious in the ally. But back up in on the way.” Nicki said. Suddenly she had an angry fuchsbau on her hands.

“You killed my brother,” Rosalee roared at them, throwing herself towards the skalengeks. Nicki got in the way only to make sure Rosalee didn’t do something she might regret later, but it was Monroe who finally held her back, wrapping Rosalee up in his arms.

“No way man. You can’t pin that on us,” the twitchy skalengek complained. “This is so unfair man. We need the jay. We need it. Hurts so bad without it.”

“Bad enough to kill a man? Because you did kill a man” Nicki commented as she finished frisking them for weapons and other evidence.

“Like I said that wasn’t us,” the skalengek underscored his point by hissing at her.

“Your problem is that evidence doesn’t lie. Unlike you.” Pulling up the guys trouser leg Nicki found the open wound she knew would be there. “A bite. I bet it matches the chunk Freddie Calvert took out of his killer. And I’m sure your finger prints will be a match too. I’m arresting you, and your friend, for the murder of Freddie Calvert. Looks like you boys are going to jail.”

“There’s no way I’m going back to jail,” the skalengek yelled. The cuffs broke but Nicki moved quickly, pistol whipping him, and knocking him back down with every bit of Grimm strength she possessed. Subdued and shocked the human shrank away from her. Channelling her best Grimm Nicki got down on his level and looked him in the eyes.

“Now we don’t have a lot of time,” she said.

“Please don’t kill me,” he whimpered.

“I won’t, so long as you tell me everything you can about the Hundjager who was here the day you killed Freddie Calvert. Did he tell you the Jay was here? Did he tell you what he was looking for?” Nicki watched the guy violently shake, either with fear or withdrawal. She wanted to feel sorry for him but she needed answers more. “Where did you meet him?”

“He found us. Please,” he grabbed hold of her sleeve. “I need something. I need it. It hurts so bad. I’ll do anything you want.”

“The only thing I want is information. Where did you meet him?”

“He’ll kill me,”

“It looks like you’re between a Grimm and a hundjager.” Nicki said. “Where did he find you?”

“In a bar. The Shanghai.”

“And do you know his name? Did he pay you?”

“No names, no money. Just the jay. That’s all we need. He just told us to forget that we’d ever met him.”

“So what did his look like?” Nicki asked.

“I can’t remember,” the guy, finally stabilising into his human self, started pulling at his hair, banging his head against the wall. “I can’t remember, I can’t remember, I can’t remember.”

“I could get him to talk,” Rosalee stepped forward but Monroe got in her way again. Righteous fury fell off Rosalee in waves. Her eyes were bright with unshed tears for her brother, the tension and heartbreak of the last few days finally falling on the person responsible.

“Detective Burkhardt?” The voice came down from the shop.

“We’re down here Franco,” Nicki had never been so happy to hear the officers voice in her life. She turned to face Rosalee. “They will pay for what they did.”

Having read them their rights Nicki was happy to hand the suspects over to Franco and see Flores off to hospital. Welcoming Flores’ replacements Nicki asked them to stay watch outside the shop, playing down the arrest and playing up the remaining risk from a possible accomplice. She was bending the rules but there was still a hundjager ‘issue’ that she needed to get to the bottom of. Turning to go back inside Nicki stopped on the sidewalk for a moment. A lightening strike of goosebumps ran over her skin. She looked around the quiet street. Nothing seemed out of place, but she was certain she was being watched.

Back inside she found Monroe and Rosalee putting the basement to rights.

“There’s a replacement car and officers out front,” Nicki informed them. “And I’ll let you know when I’ve got the statement.”

“Ok. That’s great,” Monroe said, looking shifty and distracted. Immediately Nicki knew something wasn’t right. Both Rosalee and Monroe seemed more skittish and neither one of them wanted to look her in the eye.

“What’s going on?” Nicki asked.

The words were barely out of her mouth when the sound of something being knocked over spurred Nicki into moving. She had her gun drawn and levelled on a stranger, a man, before she knew it.

“Woah. Nicki. Stop.” Monroe yelled urgently.

“Don’t,” Rosalee said as she woged, moving quick to put herself between Nicki and the stranger.

“Who are you?” Nicki asked a question of the man who did and said nothing. Frozen in place, none of them moved as time seemed to tick slowly away. A counterpoint to her own adrenaline was the iron tang of blood in the air emanating from the stranger. Nicki half lowered her weapon as nothing about the situation screamed threat. But she was still going to keep her options open. “Are you hurt?”

The man remained stubbornly silent as he stared Nicki down, his gaze defiant and cold.

“Would somebody like to explain exactly what’s going on?”

“I think we should…” Monroe started.

“Really?” Despite her interruption Rosalee seemed to know what Monroe was suggesting.  
“She could help.” Monroe could only hope that Rosalee had been listening when he’d chattered on about Portland’s new and rather unusual Grimm.

“You think she would?”

“I think if we explain it all to her, then yes, sure, why not. It’s worth a try,” Monroe said. “What else are we going to do? The cat is mostly out of the bag. Metaphorically speaking.”

Rosalee risked a quick glance at the stranger who shook his head. Despite that Rosalee seemed to make a decision in Nicki’s favour.

“This is Ian. He’s a friend of mine.”

“He’s been shot,” Monroe said forming a second line of defence between Nicki and the new guest.

“Then he needs a hospital,” Nicki stated the obvious and lowered her gun all the way.

“He needs to stay hidden.” Instantly defensive, the look Rosalee gave her made Nicki think the fuchsbau might rip her throat out. “Ian’s on the run from the Verrat.”

“So what did you do to piss them off? Not that it takes much in my limited experience.” Nicki holstered her gun hoping that would gain her some trust. “If you’re wondering where my loyalties lie you should know that I killed a dozen or more of the pesky little a-holes last night.”

“That’s not all you did last night,” Nicki barely hears Monroe mutter, but it’s enough to make her blush.

“Ian is..”

“Rosalee,” the warning was clear, full of pain, and spoken in a clearly British accent.

“Ian is part of the Laufer,” Rosalee finally said.

“I don’t know what that is,” Nicki said feeling once more as if she was on the back foot. She looked to Ian himself to explain.

“But you’re a Grimm,” the confusion was as evident as the pain on Ian’s face.

“Yes I am,” Nicki agreed. “And a seemingly disappointing one at that so let’s just assume I know nothing.”

“It’s a resistance group.”

“You fight against the royals,” Nicki said, making a connection with something that Frank had told her not so long ago. Suddenly that spark of a connection made other ideas spark to life in Nicki’s mind, a hundred possibilities and associations suddenly becoming clearer. Theories to be checked and tested.

“We oppose the autocratic rule of the Royal families, the brutality of the Verrat,” Ian spoke with a great deal of pride in his voice, and a great deal of defensiveness. “We want freedom and equality for all wesen.”

“Sounds great.” Nicki agreed.

“The Grimm’s used to work for the Royals.”

“Not for a few centuries. That I do know. And I, personally speaking, certainly haven’t ever worked for the royals,” Nicki said.

“Nicki is a detective with the Portland PD.” Monroe added in, thinking it was a key piece of information that might stop Rosalee’s friend killing his.

“I realise you don’t know me but I have no interest in controlling anyone, or acting as anyone’s hired mobster. I just want to do my job and make this city a better, safer place to live for everyone. Human and wesen.”

Ian looked at her like she’d grown a second head. Nicki would have said a great deal more but Ian looked very weak and very woozy.

“Speaking of which, Portland is not a safe place to be right now. The Verrat I fought last night certainly weren’t the only ones I’ve encountered recently. And I’m guessing they’re not the last either.”

“That’s not good. The Verrat don’t usually congregate in such large numbers. They wouldn’t draw attention to themselves in such a way.” Ian reached out to lean against something and clutched at his shoulder. Rosalee went to him, helping to keep him on his feet.

“Clearly it's not safe for you here but it’s not as if you can leave,” Nicki said thinking through the likely possibilities in her head.

“He’s staying here for the moment,” clearly the decision had been made as far as Rosalee was concerned.

“I’ll go as soon as I can. I came here to meet a contact,” Ian said. “He’s supposed to get me out of the city."

“The problem is,” Rosalee started

“And you’re not going to like this,” Monroe continued. “Ian lost his bag when he was shot. He lost his phone and all his documents.”

“And he won’t be able to leave the city, or the country, without something to replace them.”

Rosalee was about to elaborate but Nicki held up her hand to stop her. Nicki sighed. These were murky waters she was about to wade into. However, Nicki found herself inclined to help. She and Ian had a mutual enemy after all. Together Rosalee and Monroe helped Ian back to a makeshift bed that had been set up in the corner of the cellar, and hidden by shelves so no one would know it was there. Nicki turned the matter over until they rejoined her.

“Maybe we should continue this conversation when we can all take part in it. And until then, I have no idea that he’s here.”

Making their way back up to the main shop Monroe put the kettle on the old gas burner for tea as Rosalee bustled around gathering up various jars of powders and dried herbs. Nicki smiled at the quietly domestic scene. Monroe caught sight and actually blushed. Nervously Nicki checked the time. It was less than two hours since she had left Sean in bed. Quietly Monroe placed a steaming mug of something hot and herbal in front of her. Dear god but she needed coffee.

“So a dozen Hundjager?” Monroe asked. The question steering Nicki’s thoughts away from a naked Sean Renard.

“That was my share. There were more but I didn’t take them on alone.”

“Was that before or after you, you know,” Monroe paused, “had sex?”

“Monroe,” Rosalee scolded.

“Well there’s nothing like almost dying for a little foreplay,” Sarcasm aside Nicki switched to watching Rosalee do her thing with herbs and tinctures. The young woman moved with a confidence and a practised ease that had been absent when they first met.

“Was it really that bad?”

“The fighting? Yes it was really that bad,” The sex on the other hand, Nicki thought privately, was mind blowing. She went on to fill them in on the more action packed Wesen side of the evening, distracting Monroe from her love life.

“I don’t like the sound of this,” Rosalee said when Nicki was finished. “Ian’s right. The Verrat just don’t work in groups like that. Not unless there’s something bigger going on.”

“When you say bigger, I’m guessing ‘bigger’ means something royal.”

“In Portland? It seems unlikely. It’s not their usual stomping ground so to speak.” Monroe commented.

“Actually, according to someone I spoke to recently the bounty that’s been put on my head is being funded by the Royals.”

“You have a bounty on you?!” Monroe slammed his mug down on the table. “And when were you going to tell me?”

“I thought I just did. And I should probably also mention that my room mate Juliette isn’t who she says she is either, so until I find out what the fuck is going on there, you might want to avoid the house.” Nicki spoke quickly, hoping Monroe wouldn’t actually pop the vein that was throbbing angrily in his forehead. “However, personal drama aside, if the royals are here I’m beginning to think they have a connection to a case I’m working."

Monroe shook his head disbelievingly. Nicki’s cavalier attitude to her personal safety was going to get her killed. Rosalee pressed a cup of whatever she’d been making for Ian into Nicki’s hand. It was warm and smelt of honey and spice. “It will help with the bruises.”

Rosalee wandered off taking the second cup down to Ian.

“You need to watch your back,” Monroe instructed Nicki.

“I always do,” the tone of resentful frustration was inevitable and Nicki hated it.

“I mean it. We need Grimm’s like you to stay alive.” Monroe pulled her into bear hug.

“Just admit it. You’d miss me.” Nicki said, her voice muffled by the generous knit of Monroe’s sweater. He pulled back and ruffled her hair.

“So who was the lucky guy?” Monroe fixed her with the stare that said she wasn’t going to be able to duck the answer on this one. His look of understanding was designed to make her break.

“Are we really going to talk about this now?” Stalling for time Nicki took a sip from the cup Rosalee had placed in front of her and immediately gagged. The sweet smell was a ruse; it tasted like dead lawn and cabbage water. Suddenly a discussion on her love life wasn’t so unappealing. “It’s a mess Monroe. And so unprofessional.”  
“Actually I think this is a good thing.”

“He’s my boss Monroe,” Nicki sat back and watched the temporary shock appear on her friends face.

“Wow. I didn’t see that coming,” Rosalee reappeared silently.

“So? It’s a little office romance?” The hope on Monroe’s face made Nicki adore him all the more.

If only she could be as optimistic. Nicki drew in a long breath. Sean was her boss, he was half wesen, half hexenbiest of all things, and he knew she was a Grimm. Oh and by the way she was pretty certain that he was hiding something from her, which said nothing good about how much she might not trust him. Then of course there was the fact that the sex was amazing, and how the hell was it that her lips were still tingling from his kisses when it was almost impossible for this thing between her and Sean to develop into anything worth while. Exhausted by her inner monologue Nicki buried her head in her hands. Almost immediately she heard Aunt Marie’s voice in her head telling her not to show any weakness. Unable to solve the personal quandary she took the only sensible course of action - she ignored it.

“I’m not ready to talk about it yet, but I have a bigger problem that I do need to talk to you guys about.”

“Fire away,” Monroe said. Clearly the topic of Nicki’s love life was currently closed.

“I think my partner, my very human, very ignorant-of-all-things-wesen partner, might be under the spell of a Hexenbiest. He says its love, but when he’s away from her it’s like he’s going through some kind of withdrawal. He’s angry, easy led, distracted, and he said he’s been having these weird dreams.”

“That’s a spell alright.” Rosalee pulled up a chair.

“Absolutely.” Agreeing, Monroe also pulled up a chair. “Sounds like your partner’s bewitched, bothered and bewildered.”

“Probably some sort of obsessive love thing,” Rosalee shook her head. “They’re really dangerous spells to be messing with. The most effective emotional spells work with what’s already there, be it love, lust, anger, hatred. It’s a lot easier to amplify what already exists. It’s where you have to manufacture artificial feelings that things can go awry. If the spell isn’t really precise it can back fire in so many unpredictable ways.”

“I know it’s a lot to ask, but is there anything you can do to break it? When I first became a detective I had some crappy partners. Until Hank. He just…,” Nicki paused, she could feel herself choking up and blamed her lack of sleep. “He never questioned if I could do the job. And he taught me so much. He’s not just my partner. He’s a friend. He’s family.”

“In theory,” Rosalee said. “No spell is totally unassailable. But we’d need to know what spell, or at least what kind of spell he’s under to start working on breaking it. I’m guessing that just asking the hexenbiest is out of the question.”

“I doubt even torture would make her tell me.”

“You actually know who it is?” Monroe half laughed as he asked the question.

“Hank and I saved her life a few months ago,” Nicki remembered it well. Too well. “Not long after she tried to kill my aunt. And me come to think of it.”

“It’s that Hexenbiest?” Monroe threw his arms up in the air and started pacing. “Typical. They’re totally unlike the rest of us, more in the hundjager stable of Wesen if you catch my drift, short on morals. And totally lacking in humanity.”

Without realising it his words stung Nicki. Suddenly she was very glad she’d not mentioned Sean or his heritage. She felt conflicted, not knowing if she should agree with Monroe, or defend the man who’d treated her with such tender passion.

“Some hexenbiest are ok,” Rosalee suggested. “I met a few growing up that weren’t all bad. Just different.”

“She’s probably doing this because of me; because I’m a Grimm. But I need to know that Hank is going to be ok before I go after her.” Nicki felt sick to her stomach with remorse and guilt and shame. “I can’t risk hurting her if there’s a chance it could hurt Hank too.”

“So it sounds like there’s only one thing we can do.” Rosalee reached for an ancient leather bound book from under the counter and turned to a well thumbed page. “We need a little Die Wirklichkeit Entlarven Rauchtrank.”

“Of course we do,” sarcasm was clearly going to be Nicki’s fallback emotion of the day.

“A little reality exposing number. Very dramatic,” Monroe said.

“It looks like water, tastes like water but you just have to drop a little on the skin and it starts to smoke. The colour and duration of the reaction tells us the type of spell and the intensity explains how long it's been going on. It won’t give us the exact enchantment but it will narrow it down and get us close.”

“I hate to ask but do you have any?”

“It has to be brewed fresh, it has very little shelf life. Thankfully it’s quite a simple process but the distillation takes a few hours if I remember correctly,” Rosalee spoke as she scanned through the recipe and its process. “I have everything so I could start now.”

“That would be amazing. Thank you. You’re a life saver.”

“Let’s hope it doesn’t come to that,” Rosalee said vaguely but he words stopped Nicki cold.

“Are you telling me Hank could die?” Her words were so quiet they were almost a whisper. Rosalee took Nicki’s frigid hand.

“I don’t want to lie to you, but yes, your partner could die.”

Nicki went pale at the thought of it.

“Are you ok?” Monroe asked.

“I don’t know,” Nicki pulled away and got up. She could feel her distress and anger crash over her in waves. Monroe and Rosalee watched her in concerned silence. “I should be going. I need to go process and question those two guys. I’ll let you know when we have a confession and the DA will then need to make a decision about charging them.”

“Thanks. For coming to our rescue and for the other stuff too,” Rosalee gave her a rather awkward hug, as if she couldn’t quite believe she was willingly hugging a Grimm. “And I’ll let you know when the potion is ready.”

Monroe suddenly looked sheepish and awkward.

“You know, I hate to say this, but I think we may need to cancel tonights Christmas Eve dinner. I had this amazing menu planned, but I need to be here. With everything going on I can’t leave Rosalee on her own, especially not with you-know-who downstairs.”

“It’s Christmas Eve? I didn’t even realise,” Nicki suddenly felt tears prick her eyes again. She wondered how the hell she could be so out of touch. She just needed to stay focussed, however difficult and emotional she seemed to be. But Nicki also didn’t want to give up something she’d been looking forward to. “How about we do something less casual here? Even if it’s take out. At least we can all celebrate Christmas together. If Rosalee wouldn’t mind.”

“I think that’s a lovely idea,”

“That way if anything happens I’ll be here too,” Nicki found her firm footing again. “Because, having thought about it, I’m assuming your friend is the reason the Hundjager was here the day Freddie died?”

“Probably,” Rosalee agreed reluctantly.

“Stay safe and I’ll see you tonight,” Nicki reached the door realising there were customers waiting outside. “And please let your friend know that I’d like to talk to him. I have questions I think only he can answer.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in the same month... will wonders never cease!!! As always any mistakes are mine as I have no beta - I try my hardest to weed out the persistent little suckers but there's always one that sneaks through.... 
> 
> The better news is that the remaining chapters are almost all completely drafted so now its just edit, edit, edit (Woo!)
> 
> Also, as always, thank you so much for the continued reads, comments and kudos. Every one of them is precious to me and means so much.


	18. The Longest Day Pt4: Complex Complications

Sean Renard was a man on a mission. First he would go and see Catherine Schade because some time last night, while Sean had been otherwise occupied, she’d left him not one, but two voice mails demanding he come and see her.Usually Sean didn’t respond well to demands but he was willing to overlook it just this once. The level of urgency in her voice could only mean that she had a cure for Hank. It was a sliver of good news that shored up his otherwise vengeance riddled intentions. Once satisfied that the cure worked Sean would then apply it to Hank thereby saving his life, and leaving Sean free to either escort Adalind from his city or kill her. Given his mood his more primal nature longed for it to be the later. To wrap his hands around her throat and squeeze the life out of her.

Ultimately, Adalind was little more than a distraction. The bulk of Sean’s princely attention was on the renewed defeat of his brother and whatever plans he had for Portland. If the last 24 hours was anything to go by then they were in for a rough week. Equally important though, and at the earliest possible moment, he would hunt down Nicki Burkhardt, find a little privacy, and make it very clear exactly what she missed by leaving his apartment early. Sean was trying not to let it bother him that he had woken alone, rock hard in a cold bed, and full of a burning need for Nicki, but it did. He resented her constant presence in his mind when he lacked the proximity of the real thing. Sean Renard was NOT that man. He did not do mornings after, or longing, or wanting, or needing. He ignored the voice that told him that Nicki was different.

Determined to prove that nothing had changed and that he was in total control of the situation Sean had showered, and dressed impeccably. The expensive clothes an armour that exuded power and authority. His security system showed him that Nicki had a two hours head start on her day but he wasn’t going to think about that as he picked up his keys and headed for his SUV. Pointing his vehicle towards Catherine’s place he drove as fast as he dared on the snowy streets. He had places to be and no time to waste and he certainly had no room for anyone or anything to upset his plans.

As he turned the corner into Catherine’s street he was greeted with the stomach clenching sight of a police cordon and squad cars filling the space outside the Schade residence. Pulling up next to a squad car Sean stepped out and strode towards the house.

“Good morning Captain,” Wu said as hustled to move a cordon to let the coroner and Sean through.

“Renard!”

Sean had been about to ask Wu what was going on when he heard his named yelled out. Sean looked up, surprised to find Captain Bryant of missing persons walking toward him.

“I offered the Chief and your department my assistance given the shit storm that’s raining down on you guys at the moment.”

“I appreciate that,” Sean’s thanks was genuine. He promised himself long ago that, unlike his father and brother, he would show his appreciation for those who supported him. Saving his animosity for those who crossed him. The two men shook hands and immediately started walking towards Catherine’s front door.

“I’m always happy to assist ... your highness,” Bryant said, the small bow of his head looking like nothing more than a nervous tick to the casual observer. To Sean it was a welcome reminder that he had the support of loyal people he could trust. Bryant, a Taureus-Armenta, had trained with Sean at the police academy, and as a man, and a police officer, he had Sean’s respect.

“I should warn you, it’s not pretty.”

Whatever Sean had been about say dried up as he stepped over the threshold. A vicious fight had raged through the ground floor of the house. Where classical order had reigned there was the carnage of broken furniture. Every mirror in the house, of which Catherine had owned many, was shattered. The shards growing like thorny brambles from every surface. They had not just been broken, they had been broken with speed and power, weaponising the razor edged shards. The scarlet arcs of blood spatter blooming like wild roses and in the midst of it all lay the lifeless body of Catherine Schade. Sean stood immobile, exerting his iron will on his raging anger and frustration. This was not what he came here for. He needed progress not set backs. The loss of Catherine’s skillset was going to cost him dearly.

“She was discovered early this morning by a dog walker.”Bryant said stepping aside for the coroner to come in and collect the body. “But we think she was killed sometime last night.”

“It would be after midnight. She called me. Twice. The last time around 11.50pm”

“You know her sir?”

Bryant and Sean retreated even further to the edge of the room.

“Officially Catherine Schade is an old friend of the family. Unofficially she was helping me with a situation that her daughter created.”

“Her daughter being Adalind Schade.”

“Who is currently subject to the Concordia Transgreditor and fast running out of time.”

Aware they were drawing speculative looks and that a crime scene swarming with techs and officers was not the place for a private conversation Sean moved on.

“Her daughter was her only family. She’ll need to be informed.” Sean said looking around, looking for anything that a non-wesen might miss.

“We know. We’ve been unable to reach Miss Schade. The two numbers listed in her mothers phone are no longer in service. We found details of her residence but Adalind Schade was not at home, and according to the law firm Berman, Rautbort and Associates she resigned a few days ago.”

“You might want to check hotels,” Sean said making his meaning clear without actually saying it.

“I’ll be happy to hunt her down,” for a moment Bryant’s eyes turned dark and deadly.

Moving through the house, tracking the course of the fight through the evidence, Sean came to the kitchen. Interrogating the scene he could see that very little had been disturbed. The island was strewn with herbs, powders, and bottles of tinctures that seemed to glow from within. Clearly Catherine had been working here right before she died. Now someone had opened a window to air out the room, but still the acrid smell of burning hung in the air. Twin cast iron pots stood on the stove, each having boiled dry. Sean peered in. Whatever the contents had been, they were now little more than blackened charred crumbles of dust. He would get nothing useful from them.

Far more interesting was the open book that sat amongst the herbs. Looking like a fancy pristine notebook, Sean knew better. His own mother had owned many such spell books that hid in plain sight. A pen rested on the blank parchment pages as if Catherine had been ready to write down whatever thoughts and actions she deemed worthy. Stealing a quick glance to establish where the officers and CSU were Sean nodded to Bryant who understood immediately and moved to create a human barrier between Sean and possible witnesses. Touching his palm to the paper, ink bloomed into words on the page, revealing themselves to his half hexen/zauberbiest self. He read the spell carefully; obsessive love with a deadly twist. Catherine had ascertained the detail of Adalind’s actions after-all. Notes had been scribbled next to the spell identifying the significant number of changes that had been made to the base instructions, and at times it seemed as if there were at two similar but different spells existing side by side. Maybe Adalind had needed more than one attempt to develop the right spell for Hank. Sean assumed the confusion was why there were two cauldrons on the stove and not just one. What didn’t fill him with confidence were scribblings about possible additional symptoms, or the forest of question marks, or that his own name preceded one of them. Or that Nicki’s name preceded one of them. Sean closed the book and slipped it into his pocket. He wasn’t about to let it out of his possession. He went to step past Bryant and then stopped.

“You need to prepare yourself,” Sean said in full seriousness. The situation was grave.

“Are we under attack your highness?” Bryant asked.

“We are.” Sean confirmed.

“I’m at your command when you need me your highness.”

Sean swept out of the house and back into his car. Heading toward the precinct he contemplated the worst of all possible fates. His attempt to save Hank had suffered a set back with Catherine now unable to help him on account of her being dead. Henrietta was the only other hexenbiest he would trust with this, but she was out of town tasked with ‘pursuading’ an associate to give up what he knew of Eric’s plans. She would return soon, but probably not soon enough. That was why he was left with the impossible choice. Sean might have to call his mother for help. Beyond the humiliation of having to ask her for anything Sean was well aware that bringing her into the situation, and into Portland, might very well get her killed. It was then his greater angels reminded him that his mother would need to be contacted anyway - there was the small matter of Nicki Burkhardt, and a secret owed to Marie Kessler. He needed to think this over carefully. Better yet he would need to have a long conversation with his mother and let her decide - she didn’t like being told what to do, especially by her son. First though he would have to find her, which reminded him that his mother wasn’t the only woman in his life who was currently AWOL.

The closer he got to the precinct the larger the idea of Nicki Burkhardt became in his mind. She would be there, waiting for him. For a moment, an image of her draped naked across his desk flashed across his thoughts. Sean’s hands flexed against the steering wheel, his palms itching with the recollection of the brush of her skin against his. He had lost himself in her kisses, and even now the thought made his mouth thrill with the anticipation of taking more.

“Nicki,” he venerated her name to the empty car.

He had revealed his wesen self to her, and she’d accepted him for who he was. It was what he’d longed for and feared ever since she started to come into her Grimm powers. She’d seen him and still her touch had been gentle. She knew him.... Not all of him, his own mind reminded him. There was still far more for her to know, there was still time for the tentative fragile thread of connection between them to be utterly destroyed. His mood turned dark. He couldn’t let her go. He wanted her. He just didn’t want to be this preoccupied and obsessed with her.

Obsessed. The word went off in his mind like a bomb. Suddenly pulling over onto the side of the road Sean fumbled for Catherine’s spell book in his pocket. Flipping it open again he found the page, the words blooming once more. Sean had never been more thankful for the magical knowledge that his mother had instilled in him despite his lack of innate skills. He frantically read Catherine’s notes again, tracking her thinking with new insight. It was not one spell, but two. Not confusion but clarity. Adalind had used the same base spell, but the changes would make the two variations behave in very different ways. And there were two different victims. Hank. And Sean. And while Adalind had applied the spell directly to Hank herself, she’d used something or someone else to develop an obsessional link between Sean and the object of his obsession - Nicki Burkhardt. It was a perverse act given how many times Adalind had accused Sean of being obsessed with The Grimm.

Sean scanned down the list of symptoms Catherine had identified; fever, mood swings, irrational jealousy, an obsession with the focus of the spell, and loss of control. Sean completed the list with his own rage, loathing and fear. It was too much and he felt his mind slip. Half hard in his pants, his body on the edge of release, Sean flashed back to Nicki in the restaurant. The warmth of her body, the curve of her mouth, the kisses, the seductive stain on her lips from her lipstick… The lipstick. The gift from the room mate who wasn’t who she said she was. And then there was the way Adalind had behaved outside his office. It was as close to a confession as Sean needed. The lipstick also linked ‘Juliette’ to Adalind, so there was definitely more to know. Adalind had threatened to make Nicki hate him. He couldn’t let that happen. Sean needed answers. He was definitely calling his mother. Pulling on the tight reins of his self control if only to prove that he still could he was left with only two questions. What exactly was the spell going to do to him? And what did it mean for Nicki?

Shaken, Sean started up his car again and headed straight to his office. He needed to be clear headed and laser focused. He knew he wasn’t, almost running into Sergeant Wu who was coming out of Sean’s office.

“Didn’t I just see you at the crime scene Sergeant?”

“I brought back the first cartons of evidence sir,” Wu handed Sean his coffee, and Sean wondered how Wu did it all. “The initial report about the death of Kimura and the other man is on your desk, and the Chief of Police asked that you call him once you’re in.”

“Do you know where Burkhardt and Griffin are?” He asked reluctantly.

“I haven’t seen Griffin yet sir, but Detective Burkhardt asked me to pass this on.” Wu handed over the last file he held. “Burkhardt arrested the suspects in the Calvert murder this morning. According to Deakins it took her exactly 17 minutes to get a signed confession. From both suspects. She’s now back to working on the Ross case. I’m sure she only does it to make the rest of us look bad, sir.” Wu said and bustled off leaving Sean with the file and his thoughts, his eyes drifting towards the room where Nicki and the Ross case were hidden away.

Sean took his place behind his desk. Just as Wu had promised the Kimura file sat on top of all theothers. There was also a stack of morning newspapers, their front pages covering the unfortunate fall out of last nights undercover operation. Sean leafed through them. On the whole the reporting was balanced and fair, but there was always one that questioned not only his leadership but his departments ability to do their job. Even the task force was disparaged for its connection with him. Tossing it aside Sean took a sip of his coffee. First he would read the report, then he would go and see Nicki. Soaking up every detail Sean was just finishing up when there was a knock on his door. About to dismiss the disturbance Sean realised it was his boss. The Chief of Police let himself in and took a seat without being offered.

“I was about to telephone you sir.” Sean said, putting the report on Kimura down but leaving it open.

“It makes interesting reading doesn’t it? As do those,” the Chief indicated the newspapers on Renard’s desk.

“I wouldn’t know. I’ve been focussing on the job sir,” Sean indicated the report.

“So how do you feel Renard? All that effort and Kimura gets himself killed in our cells.”

“I’m angry sir,”

“Good. Anger is the best motivation.” The chief smiled briefly then fixed Sean with an inscrutable stare. “I’m afraid it looks like we won’t be getting any answers anytime soon.”

“Kimura was poisoned not long before he was stabbed. And we still don’t have an identity on the other man.” Sean looked up at his boss, his gaze equally inscrutable. “It might be difficult to ascertain who hired them, or who was behind their killing, but not impossible.”

“And you’re certainly going to try.” Once more the Chief smiled, looking positively feral with delight. “I knew I liked you Renard.”

“Thank you sir.”

“How is Detective Burkhardt doing? Given that Kimura was involved in her parents deaths I can’t imagine this was easy for her.”

Given his current predicament Sean took a moment to consider his answer. The Chief’s interest in his detective was starting to irk him.

“Detective Burkhardt just made her first arrest of the day.” Sean held up the Calvert file, and tried not to mind that Nicki had prioritised work over him.

“She’s certainly living up to her reputation. You know there’s a lot of talk about her. It would be a shame to see that damaged.”

“Is it likely to be?” Sean asked innocently, but he knew what was coming next.

He’d known since he’d confronted Adalind at The Deluxe. After her over confident boast to ruin his detective Sean had made numerous discreet enquiries. The chief grew very serious, he leaned in making sure that they weren’t overheard even though they were alone in the office with the door closed.

“I realise this is the last thing you need, but a friend of mine has let me know that Internal Affairs are looking into Detective Griffin. I don’t need to tell you that if they find anything, if anything sticks, then it sticks to his partner too.”

“Do you know if it’s general conduct or if it’s a specific case they’re looking into?” Sean asked the obvious question.

“My friend didn’t know but if I.A. run an investigation this quietly, without informing a superior officer, then I would suspect that Griffin isn’t the only target. The question is do you think they will find anything?”

Sean had no idea what Adalind had pointed them towards. He knew that Internal Affairs had launched a broad sweep investigation across a dozen or so cases, all of them worked by Hank before Nicki became his partner. The problem was that if Hank had broken the law, as Adalind claimed, Sean couldn’t find any sign of it. Therefore he couldn’t take care of the problem. And he needed to take care of the problem so that Hank could one day step into the role of Captain when Sean was ready to move on. He also needed to protect Nicki.

“As you know, at the time of Michael Ross’ assassination I looked into every officer, detective and member of staff. Griffin is an exceptional detective. He has my trust.” In the face of doubt Sean remained steady. It was the truth.

“Of course I.A. may be looking at this department because of the leak of information around the Ross case.”

“Then I know for certain that Griffin will be cleared.” Sean reached down and unlocked the bottom drawer of his desk. He withdrew the file he’d prepared for just this occasion. “I found the source of this precinct’s leak. It was the janitor. I only got the final piece of irrefutable evidence last night which is why I haven’t had an opportunity to discuss until now.”

“You’ll arrest him of course.” The chief said flipping through the file.

“We have the warrant but he appears to have disappeared.”

“That’s unfortunate.”

“However he wasn’t the one who put a target on Ross’ back. There was another leak, from another source entirely.” Sean braced himself, ready for what came next. “I may need to speak to a friendly judge.”

“Consider Judge Patterson. It was his case, his court room, and Logan is very keen to get to the bottom of it. So who do you suspect?”

“Assistant District Attorney Jones,” Sean said plainly.

After contemplating matters the chief merely nodded.

“Well I’ll leave it in your capable hands Renard. Just keep me informed,” the Chief offered Sean a hand to shake. Sean thinking that of course his boss would leave it to him. If it well went the glory would be shared. If it went badly, investigating the assistant DA would end Sean’s career. “And don’t forget about dinner tonight. Maura’s looking forward to meeting you. We’ll see you at eight.”

Watching his boss leave Sean contemplated the empty desks of Griffin and Burkhardt. He hoped that it wasn’t a harbinger of things to come. Without consciously thinking about it Sean had reached an uncomfortable realisation. Hexed, and with the prospect that he might end up like Hank if he doesn’t find help, there’s a finite time to act against his brother before he looses his mind to whatever this obsession with Nicki Burkhardt turns into. Time is a luxury he no longer has. Picking up the office phone Sean made exactly one call. His clumsy enquiries about a possible investigation were not to give him information as he claimed, but rather to usurp Adalind’s timetable. It would alert I.A. to the fact he knew what they were doing and, hopefully, bring them to his door sooner rather than later. It was a calculated risk, but it was a move Adalind wouldn’t be expecting him to make.

For a few minutes Sean pretended to concentrate but he could feel the tension inside him growing stronger by the minute. It was a banked energy, like a rubber band pulled too tight, liable to snap at any moment. He kept stealing glances at Nicki’s empty chair, wishing he could just get a glimpse of her, maybe then he could concentrate. Sean considered that first night when a shared dinner had started inching towards whatever they were now. He thought of quiet nights, with the precinct deserted, the blinds to his office drawn and Nicki laid out over his desk as he stroked into her. He imagined her on her knees swallowing him down until he came. Resenting her absence his thoughts took a darker turn.

Pushing his chair back with force, and feeling like thunder, Sean grabbed the Calvert file, and his coffee. Having something to fill his hands when all he wanted to do was fill them with Nicki was probably a good idea. Crossing the squad room to where the Ross case was being assembled, Sean keyed in his security code. He would need to temporarily suspend Hank’s access. While he was too far under Adalind’s control he needed to be kept out to prevent him over-sharing with his girlfriend.

Closing the door behind him Sean found Nicki sitting on the table silently interrogating the evidence boards. Her focus was so intent that she didn’t seem to notice him at first and so he just watched. He was looking for any sign that Adalind’s spell had affected her too. And then he found that she was watching him too. She offered him a tired smile but almost immediately she put her attention back onto the boards. Nicki was picking over the evidence and wondering what the hell she could say to Captain Sean Renard. She had plenty to say to just Sean, the man, but here was neither the time or place. It was awkward, and the silence stretched on too long. The small room suddenly felt even smaller. Willing himself to maintain his iron control Sean felt the wave of desire wash over him. Sean had always been blessed with a healthy libido, and an even healthier refractory period thanks to his supernatural Zauberbiest strength, but he was not a young man. The few hours he and Nicki had spent together should have been his limit. It was clear though that his body had not got that particular memo. He felt flushed, and his fingers itched with wanting to touch her, and suddenly he was over taken with the desire to tell her all the delicious and indecent things he wanted to do to her body.

Nicki risked another glance at Sean.

“I’ve got the file on Kimura and the third man.” Sean said.

“I know. I’ve read it already.” Nicki said, her voice small and sad. “Poisoned and stabbed. Someone really didn’t want him to talk to us.”

“I’m sorry you won’t get your answers,” he said.

“I may.” Nicki spoke carefully, keeping it professional. “I see Wu gave you the Calvert file.”

“I haven’t had a chance to look it over yet.” Sean confessed, then he went on, unable to stop himself. “I missed you this morning.”

“If it hadn’t been a matter of life and death I wouldn’t have left.” Nicki hoped the admission might explain those things she couldn’t yet put into words. The admission made Sean happier than it should have done. She was rewarded by a smile, his eyes piercing her from where he stood.

“I got a call from the store owner this morning. The thieves returned trapping her inside. Both men have confessed to the break and enter, and the murder. Now I’m just waiting for the DNA match to be done with the tissue that Freddie Calvert bit out of his attackers.”

“Once we have the DNA confirmation I’ll pass it on to the prosecutors. Case closed.”

“Yes. And no.” Nicki shifted awkwardly, struggling to find the right words as Sean raised an imperious eyebrow. The conversation she was about to have should have been straight forward, even more so now that her Captain knew about her extra curricular personality, but apparently not. She looked over his shoulder to check the door. “They’re Wesen sir.”

“Who isn’t these days.”

“The drug they were looking for isn’t illegal in, you know, the normal world.”

“Normal?” Sean suppressed a laugh. Nicki rolled her eyes and chose to ignore him. Her smile this time was more open, the ice had broken between them once more.

“They were told it was there by a Hundjager who used them as cover for something else.” Nicki sat back. “I imagine you’re a little more interested now.”

“Very,” Sean put the files aside and moved toward Nicki. He took exactly three steps before he stopped himself again. He needed to control himself.

Nicki slid off the table and went to the largest of the maps on the wall. In thick green pen each of the nine buildings had been outlined.

“I’ve been updating this with the information I got about the real estate deals,” she pointed them out with the tip of her pen even though she really didn’t need to. “I also added in the building where we had our fight last night. And this is the site of the Calvert murder.”

“Is either relevant to the Ross case?”

“Possibly both? It was the Calvert murder that made me think of the idea of a crime hiding a crime. Of course when we talked about it after you’d been shot I didn’t know you are what you are, or that you knew that I am what I am. If I had, I would’ve told you about the Hundjager.” Nicki raced on. “Anyway, this is the Calvert store, and this is one of the nine buildings. There’s a clear line of sight between the two. If we maintain the idea that there’s a potential threat remaining for the Calvert case, which there may be because of the Hundjager, then we can run a covert op on this building for the Ross case without having to fill out the paperwork and alerting someone who shouldn’t be alerted.”

Sean moved closer to the map, his attention though settled on Nicki. He certainly liked the idea. It was using their own ruse against them.

“I know this store,” Sean said.

“You do?” Nicki tried to feign innocence. She felt all kinds of uncertain. Monroe’s safety was on the line and the store had secrets she’d promised not to reveal.

“It’s somewhat legendary amongst Portlands wesen community.As you can imagine some of our medical needs can’t be easily met by conventional treatments. There are time we can’t just walk into a CVS or Walgreens.”

Like when we’ve been hexed by a Hexenbiest Sean thought, an idea forming in the back of his mind.

“I assume the victim’s sister is the new owner. Are you sure she’s not working with the hundjager?”

“Absolutely.” Nicki asserted, thinking about Ian but still saying nothing.

It was also too much of a coincidence thought Sean, that a hundjager was seen so close to one of the GQR buildings. Of course he knew that there was a direct link between hundjager, his brother and GQR - it would be interesting to see how long it too Nicki to catch up.

“Then we keep the patrol car, and we’ll use it inform the Ross case. You’re right, it’s too good an opportunity to pass up.”

“Thank you sir,” the thanks sincere, Nicki immediately felt guilty that she was essentially lying by omission. The police guard would help to keep her friends safe, of course it would also help to keep their secret. Nicki had been wondering exactly what she was going to tell Sean, and it seemed she had settled on telling him as little as possible.

“Was there something else?”

“So many things,” Nicki said rather flippantly but with Monroe taken care of other issues came to the fore. “But let’s start with thank you. I spoke to Frank Rabe a few minutes ago.”

“It was a necessary precaution,” Sean said, uneasy at the stab of jealousy he always felt when Nicki spoke of the lawyer. “Protecting his son now means that he can’t be used against Rabe in the future.”

“Like I said, it was a kind thing to do. I appreciate it Captain. Sean. As does Frank, who, even though Barry will be on an anklet, can now spend Christmas with his son.” Her smile soothed him right before she handed him a piece of paper. “And now this.”

“You want the phone records of Adalind Schade. Why?”

“When she arrived last night, she already knew what had happened. She said someone had let her know. Don’t you think, given the leak in the Michael Ross case, and that we’re dealing with a number of sensitive cases, that we should double check it’s not someone here?”

“Or is it because she’s a Hexenbiest who has Hank very much under her spell?”

“You know?”

“I know a great many things about Adalind Schade. Including the fact that she is a threat to you.”

There was something in Sean’s voice that suggested that knowing Adalind was far more than professional. For a moment she wanted to demand more information but then she reminded herself that she had absolutely no rights over Sean Renard. He was her boss and they’d slept together a couple of times but that did not make what they had a relationship. The thought made an ache start somewhere in the middle of her chest.

“You should also know that I can’t find Hank. He’s not at home and he’s not answering his phone. I couldn’t even raise him to get back up this morning.”

“That’s not good.” Sean was wondering how he was going to explain it if Hank was still missing when I.A. showed up.

“No. It’s not.”

“Adalind’s mother was found murdered this morning and she appears to have disappeared. We’re currently looking for her which means we should have access to her phone records already, whether they’re in service or not.”

A quick call to Bryant and Sean had what he needed. It was better answer than he hoped for. Sean smiled at her as he hung up.

“The person who called Adalind in the middle of the night was DA Jones.”

“How the hell did he know?”

“I don’t know but he’s looking increasingly suspect. I got a tip off that he’s the person who leaked the news that Michael Ross would be testifying.” Sean watched as Nicki went suddenly very still. He knew her well enough to know that moments like this were when she was lost in her own thoughts. He waited until she was done. “What are you thinking?”

“That we’re in trouble.” Nicki stated it calmly as if she was admitting it was a Tuesday. “Jones leaked the information that led to Michael Ross being murdered. Ross was killed because under the crime he knew about was the one he didn’t, namely the use of embezzled city funds to buy land for GQR. Therefore it’s not a stretch to suggest that Jones must also be connected to GQR and may be part of the original embezzlement. Which means he’s been part of this from the beginning and is perfectly placed to effect a cover up.”

Nicki was about to say more but stopped short. Ross was assassinated by a killer quoting something Latin and royal, and his wife was also convinced the royals were involved. Jones made Ross a target, he has connections to GQR, therefore both GQR and Jones have connections to the royals. It was the Royals who had a bounty out on her, therefore Jones and GQR might know why. It was one more reason to dislike him.

“Can I ask…” the words died even as Nicki spoke them.

“You can ask me anything,” the I may not be able to give you an answer hung in the air. Sean watched as Nicki gathered herself up to ask something.

“Do you know anything about the seven royal families?”

Sean considered the inevitable question for a long time, his eyes resting on Nicki as she watched him, seemingly looking for something. He wondered for a moment if she suspected already.

“I do.” And so they finally reached the point Sean couldn’t avoid. “I know a lot about the royal families.”

“So?”

“This is not the place to have this conversation. Come round tonight. We can talk and I’ll answer every question you have.” It was a bold promise but Sean knew anything less wouldn’t be acceptable.

“I can’t.”

“Are you having regrets? About us? Because if you are I would much rather you just came out and said so.”

“No regrets. I could never regret you.” She frowned at his sharp tone, surprised by it, and the suddenness with which it appeared. “It may have escaped your notice as well as mine but it’s Christmas Eve. I have dinner plans with friends and you’ll be with the Chief.”

“After then.” Sean realised that he wasn’t above begging. The rational side of his mind told him that he’d need at least a little Nicki Burkhardt to help him manage this thing until it was cured. He also knew that the spell would be one more topic of conversation they would have to navigate. He swayed towards her, stopping short of actually touching her like he wanted to. “I don’t care what time it is. This is important. We need to talk, and sooner rather than later. It’s waited long enough.”

“Sean,” it was all she could say, wanting so badly to touch him, to soak up his warmth and comfort, but given where they were she seemed frozen with indecision. She glanced out of the office to the squad room beyond wondering if she dare, and if any of them would care if she did or not. “Ok.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It goes without saying that all mistakes are mine... I have no beta... to make it better! 
> 
> It also goes without saying that I'm very grateful as always for the thanks, comments, kudos, bookmarks etc. And thanks for waiting for the update - I can only hope that I don't disappoint!!


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